#but it all leads to dead ends and more stress as they desperately try to save their friend from the same fate they were subjected to for

[chipistrate]

What if Cassie gets back and stays with 3 star fam for a bit after the Scooper ending, but she's already infected with the Vanni virus, so everyone watches as she slowly loses control of her own body and keeps trying to hurt the others when she doesn't want to and the Mimic tries to communicate with her and tell her to go back to the Pizzaplex, all while Cassie is trying so hard to keep it all down and ignore it in a futile attempt at keeping control over herself

[divinesolas]

The hour of the wolf

summary: You make an offer for an old friend. You offer up anything to make sure his life is spared. What the wolf wants shocks you more than anything.

Cregan Stark x Beesbury!Reader

w.c: 3k

c.w: SPOILERS FOR FUTURE EVENTS OF HOTD; the hour of the wolf, mutual pining, soft? cregan, SMUT !, oral (male and fem), minor fingering (fem), face sitting, dirty talk, lord kink, hairy cregan, p in v, minor bearded cregan, breeding kink, minorly proofread

a.n: literally just a reimagining of the black aly and cregan scene from the books, i hate that fact that they rlly might cut black aly from the show let me kms.

perm cregan taglist (open!)

The room is far too hot. The glares of the men in the room far too intense. Words unspoken louder than anything. You had been sitting in this room for hours now, the arguing the anger seemingly never ending. You understand him. A stark never does forget his oaths that much has become very clear to you.

The fur covered man turns his back to the group after some harsh words leave his lips. You decide enough is enough and turn to the other men in the room. “Leave us.” Oscar and benjicot give each other nervous looks before turning back to you. “y/n…” You place a hand on Oscar's shoulder and squeeze it, “I have this, trust me.” He hesitates for a few moments before he nods and with the help of benjicot clears out the council room leaving you alone with the wolf of the north.

His back is still turned to you, staring at the window with a glare in his eyes. “My lord-” “I have done all that you all have asked. I have agreed to not storm on the green castles, i have given my men, i have been merciful to those who should have been marked to death i will not relent on this.” He had finally begun to face you, his face angry. You can see the stress of the last days weighting down on his face, a noticeable stubble from not being able to shave, bags under his eyes, he looked exhausted and you felt awful

Corlys Velaryon. once a man who you would have considered a good friend turned turncloak. The new king had pardoned his crimes along with the rest of you except for cregan, so stuck in his justice it will not stop until he has his head. Thought he had pardoned corlys, when you had went to the king to see to cregan being stopped, not wishing to fight one of the only men he trusted he did nothing to fight the northern leaving you all to try to persuade him yourselves.

You understood his anger. Having vowed himself to the queen and the late prince and both now dead due to the greens. “i’m afraid i cannot relent on this as well my lord.” You knew corlys did what he had to. maybe you would have not done the same in his place but it did not matter to you. Cregan huffs, pushing off the table he was leaning on to walk past you. “then there is nothing for us to speak of.”

You do not try to grab him as he walks past as much as you wish to. you only knew the lord stark for a year now but he had become a good friend to you and you like to think you were one to him as well. it took him awhile to open up to you, the northern not interested in speaking to most and was flat out rude to most but you persevered and was rewarded by earning the favor of the stark, leading him to seek out your council.

You felt more for the stark. More that was beyond friendship. you were a minor lady from minor house, the war and the growing tensions and battles with the hightowers leaving you even worse for wares and he was probably the most powerful man in the realm right now as well as a recent widow. He would want nothing to do with you if it were not for you insistence and you’re sure after this is all said and done if he does not agree to be the kings hand permanently this will be the last time you ever hear from the man.

Yet you are desperate. you so badly don’t want him to do this. corlys’ life more valuable than many realize. “what can i offer you?”

You voice cracks as you speak, whipping around to see his retreating form paused at your words but he does not turn around. you take a deep breath as you take the steps towards him. every step you take he steps back. “grant me this one thing and i shall never ask another thing from you ever again. If you do i shall have sonnets and songs written of you, tales of your great strength and wisdom. Grant this one wish and i will do anything you desire.”

His back hits the wall and he pears down at you with a tilted head as you stand firmly in front of him. not closely enough to be touching but close enough you can smell him, woodsmoke musk of his skin. He’s quiet but the look in his eyes shows Hes thinking about your words. You begin to grow a bit nervous when a light smile creeps up on his face. “I shall grant you your wish.”

“and what in return?”

“you.”

You stumble back while cregan remains rooted where he is, watching you with delight. “you misspeak.” “i do not.” you shake your head furiously. he cannot truly mean that as much as your skin crawls and your heart pounds you cannot accept his words. “If you are looking for a wife i am more than happy to help you find one.” “i am not looking for a wife. i want you.”

You pace around the room, tugging at the collar of your black and yellow dress. The room suddenly having grown hot and you dress uncomfortable. “There are many lovely ladies,” “im sure there are,” “The war has left many without a husband as awful as it is to speak. i would be more than happy help set you up with a couple meetings with them.” “is one of them with you? i will attend that one.”

You turn to him and almost wish you could curse at him and his pleased face. “my lord please.” his face drops and he grabs your hand tugging you into him. His hand softly coming to your face, the obvious look of affection in his eyes makes your stomach churn. “a hand for a head. give me your hand and i will do as you say. i will do as you say for the rest of my life.”

You take a couple deep breaths in disbelief, he wanted you. “A hand for a head. i will give you as you ask.” He leans in closer to you, you almost feel as though he is going to kiss you and you close your eyes in anticipation but he pauses right as your lips are about to touch and you hear him chuckle lightly. “You want me as well.” It is not a question but despite that you nod and his lips are pressed against yours. You can feel him hum and smile against your lips. He is an animal, hungerly eating at your lips like he is a starved man, as if he had been waiting for this for far too long.

You try your best to meet him all the same but he completely consumes you and you can do nothing but submit to him. When you pull apart you both stare at one another with lust in your eyes. So when you lightly step back he stares at your curiously until you sink down onto your knees and his breathing stops. “What do you think you’re doing?” You trace your hands along his thighs as you peer up at him. “doing my best to please you my lord.” he groans in delight and licks his lips. “will you allow me to my lord.” “if you do not put me in your mouth right now i will push you down and fuck you on the floor like a whore.” You wish his words did not affect you like they did, you can feel how soaked you are, you might as well be dripping onto your feet.

He allows you to grab at his pants and watches as you pull them down exposing them fully. He is huge. How in the hells were you even going to put this thing in your mouth? You can see the hair that trails up towards his stomach, the veins that line up and down him pulse with need while he lightly drips out some precum. As if driven by pure lust you reach out and lick at the drops that spill out of him, sucking around his tip to see if you can get anymore. You must be doing something right because he groans at your actions, grabbing the back of your head as you continue to push him further into your mouth. “fuck you feel so fucking good.” You whine lightly at his praise as begin to rub yourself onto the heel of your foot. When you moan around him he pushes you greedily further into him. “you feeling good too? such a greedy girl.”

You have no real clue what you’re doing but cregan helps you every step of the way, and when you put him fully in your mouth, your nose is buried in his hair. His hand on the back of your head pulling you closer and further until you get a good rhythm yourself and he lets you do as you please. “so fucking good for me fuck.” You can tell he’s close to cracking, his grip on your head grows tighter and his panting gets heavier, his words of praise turn into slurs of mumbles of nothing. He tries to pull you off not wanting to overwhelm you, “its too much.” But you keep firm and hes flowing into your mouth, you almost choke but pull yourself off of him and swallow down his salty seed.

You almost look up at him to try and see what his reaction was but you instead yelp as you’re pulled up and thrown over his shoulder. “what are you doing?!” he pulls up his pants and readjusts himself before he walks out of the room with you still over his shoulder. people stare as you walk past but nobody dares to question the hand so they all continue about their business. you even see oscar on your way who shoots you a bewildered look but you just throw your hands up in confusion and embarrassment.

You realize he is taking you to his room. He shuts the door with his foot and tosses you onto the bed. He strips himself of his furs and clothes where he’s standing bare in front of you. He truly was a man and you gulped. Greedily admiring his hairy body as he strode towards you with the utmost confidence. “If you do not want this you will tell.” You nod, “With your words.” You shiver, “yes..” hes pleased but gives you a look. “yes,,,?” you purse your lips before answering him, “yes my lord.”

He kisses you and leans on top of you until you’re laying on your back. You feel his fingers trailing up your leg and push past your underwear to push two fingers inside of you. You grip onto his shoulder and gasp as he begins to work his fingers in and out of you. “you’re dripping down my fingers, look at you pretty girl.” you shudder against him as he continues to work at you. He suddenly pulls away and you whine but he kisses your complaints away. “sit on my face.” Your brows furrow together in confusion, “what?” He chuckles, his hair tickling your face and shoulders. “just do as i say.”

Despite your confusion you nod, trusting your future husband who rolls the two of you over and you’re suddenly on top of him. He pulls every string and pushes away every piece of fabric under you sit just as bare as he is. You almost fold your arms to cover yourself but his hands grab yours as he continues to admire you with heart eyes. “you are the most beautiful lady i have ever seen.” Your face burns as you turn your head away from him. “sweet talker.” “I mean every word.”

He lays all the way back and it suddenly becomes abundantly clear what it means and you are alarmed. “You will suffocate.” He laughs and shakes his head as he continues to try and pull you up to his face. “a real man would not, trust me.” “this cannot be right.” “it will be good i promise. trust me. i want to.” Despite your doubts and worries you allow yourself to hover over his face lightly, his beard scratches at your face. you hear him sigh as he kisses your thigh, “I said sit.” He suddenly pulls you down and you’re fully sitting down on his face and he begins to lap at you.

You were not the most innocent women, having touched yourself a fair share of times but this was a completely different experience. His tongue laps at you eagerly, drinking up every drop while his hands knead your sides. You grip onto his hair as you as, your eyes closed and you throw your head back in pleasure. You keel over when his hands move you to grind on top of his face, his nose rubbing against your bud and your hips eagerly begin to move to try to get more and more friction. with every call of his name he hums and groans into you sending shockwaves down your spine.

You can do nothing to stop yourself from releasing all over his face. you mumble apologies but he simply eagerly licks up every drop before suddenly flipping you over and hovering over you. his face gleams with the shine of your essence. “ive been wanting to do that for too fucking long.” you turn away as your face heats, he turns your head back towards him and pecks you on the lips. “I hope you know i am being truthful, my words do not stem from purely desire. i love you.” Your breathe escapes you and your hands come up to cup his face, “my lord…” “cregan.” a smile plays on your face, “cregan, i have loved you since the moment i met you.” His face softens at your words, “even when i was an ass?” “especially when you were an ass.” He shakes his head in humor before he presses his lips against yours once again.

His hardness his your thigh and you moan. “i dont wish to force you.” “I want you to cregan. take me.” He wraps your legs around his hips as he aligns himself up to you, “if it hurts too much tell me.” you nod and your heart continues to pound in anticipation. It does hurt, it hurts like hell as his hard cock pushes its way past your walls, you find yourself biting his shoulder and he groans at your actions. When he bottoms out he pauses, allowing you enough time to adjust to him. Its hard to, when he is so big and you can feel every vein and the way he throbs against you. He pecks kisses around your face and down your neck to distract you, pouring his love into every peck.

“You can move.” “you sure?” it does not hurt as much anymore, sure there is a light sting but surely that will only add to the pleasure. “yes please fuck me cregan.” He lets out a noise one would only consider to be a growl, “you want me to fuck you? ill fucking fuck you.” His pace is quick but not too rough, its enough to have your toes curling with every thrust. He’s mumbling into your ear, words of praise but you can barely make sense of it as you begin to see stars. Your hands scratch down his back and he howls as you bite his shoulder. “fuck wanna see you full, with my kid.” you moan with pleasure at his words and nod your head eagerly, “yes yes yes i want that so bad please please.”

“You want my babes? for me to fuck you full and round? for you to carry my pups?” you nod eagerly against his shoulder as you begin to chant his name like its the only word you know and he calls out your name just the same. You can feel your stomach burning, “cregan im gonna im,” he shushes you as he only begins to move faster, one of his hands coming down to play with your bud. “cum fuck do it. wanna feel it.” He makes no moves to stop even as you burst around him, if anything he seems more motivated as the sounds of your skin slapping together grow louder. His thrusts your sloppy and his hips move more eagerly until you feel yourself being filled with his hot seed, pumping you full.

You two attempt to catch your breaths, you wipe his sweaty stuck hair away from his face as he grins at you. The moment suddenly ruined when loud banging hits his door and the two of you freeze, staring at each other with wide eyes. “Lord stark!” you recognize the voice as one of the squires and you watch as cregans face falls with annoyance. “what?” his voice is clearly angry as he spits at the door, seemingly having no intention of pulling out of you. “one of the lord has requested an audience-” “i am not available for the rest of the day.” “but my lord-” “leave me be.”

You can sense a pause from outside the room before the footsteps suddenly begin to fade away leaving the two of you alone once more. You open your mouth to speak but he sudden pulls out and spins you over quickly shoving himself back inside of you. there will be time to talk later it seems and when a maid walks in later that evening cregan makes no attempt to explain why the room smells as it does and why the windows are foggy. but everyone knows, the lord stark is not one for quiet women.

[bunnysbrainrot]

Our Little Secret

Relationship: dbf!Joel Miller x f!reader

Content: EXPLICIT sexual scenes, unprotected sexual acts, daddy kink, cum kink (Joel leaves a lovely surprise in your underwear), degrading language, dirty talk. ANGST (for once), but a lil' treat at the end

Summary: Knowing your impatience between your intimate encounters, Joel gives you a sweet reminder of who belongs between those thighs of yours.

“He’s such a fucking asshole-“

Joel gives you a pleading look. You’d been pacing around his living room before you’d almost exhausted yourself. But of course, you added more fuel to your own fire, now talking in tireless circles, for both of you.

A hand splays on your lower back, “Honey, it’s only temporary. The summer is gonna be over soon-“

“Exactly!” Your voice is louder than expected - hot and angry. “The summer has been the only time I’m able to spend with you, and now I won’t be able to see you… at all.”

The way your voice fades breaks something in Joel’s chest. This was it. The end of this forbidden love affair.

Your father had enforced a strict curfew, without much explanation, either. It was set for 10 p.m.. When you demanded his reasoning at the time, it was because of an increase of crime, yet a twinge or paranoia remained. Maybe he found out.

Maybe he already knew.

But if he did, surely he would never let you within 5 feet of Joel on your own. He wouldn’t trust him as must as he did, even still. Joel had his own key, and your dad’s eyes crinkle when he smiles at his best friend.

Your tantrum could be your dead giveaway.

Joel wordlessly tugs you to his chest. A kiss presses against the crown of your head. Your anger twists your gut, but you know Joel is simply trying to relieve you of this stress.

You sigh deeply into his chest. Joel threads his fingers through your hair, “Let it out, baby girl.”

After all, Joel was easily to blame for this. He had been too affectionate with you, he cursed at himself. Made you fall for him with his doting. Made you lust after him from the first text. And here you were, torn apart with a guilt he could’ve prevented. You were off limits, but something in him broke when you looked his way.

Somehow, no tears form. A lesson you’d learned being with Joel is that there were risks, but also, you could work around the obstacles.

��Just tell me what you need, baby girl.”

In case this really was the end, you let your senses take over.

Your lips form a trail from his chest to his collarbone, skittering across the rugged, tanned skin. Joel groans when your tongue joins in, meandering up his neck. He leans into your touch to grant you further access. Neither of you need words. Not anymore.

It ached as a sickly reminder of how close you’d become.

“Baby, your curfew is soon.”

You pause to scowl at him. His expression softens, but a certain part of him is anything but.

He speaks slowly, “This is the first night. It wouldn’t help our chances if you went ahead and broke it.”

A brief standoff ends with tentative, hovering touches. You remind yourself to be grateful for every caress and grab, to go back through the memories of his hands. And oh, how they’ve wandered.

You nod, returning to his jaw, “What do we do, then?”

Joel lets out a gruff moan that thunders through your core. Despite the anger and anxieties, a familiar wetness works through your folds. It grows too much to keep to yourself.

A desperate move, but you grip Joel’s hand and tug it toward the waistband of your bottoms, plunging his fingers toward your needy cunt.

“Sweetheart-“ mutters Joel.

“Give me something to remember. Joel, please, don’t let me forget you.”

Warmth envelops his fingers quickly. That sweet wetness you always delivered could drive any man mad. A single touch has you mewling into his neck, but Joel is slow to take the lead.

Your saliva slicks his neck as you release a wanton moan; Joel takes it in - your shaky breaths, your trembling legs, your soaked cunt ready for his use. Even still, Joel knows the wiser, and swallows the bitter pill that this can't last long.

The exchanges are hurried, though justifiably so, but the pace increases your worry. Minutes have passed with hardly more than his thumb gliding across your needy clit. You buck your hips onto his hand, urging him to be a bit more engaged. He seems to be holding back now more than ever.

Usually you could spur things along, pull the right strings, and push the right buttons to have this man crumbling in minutes. But his averted gaze and hesitant lips spike worry in your gut.

"Joel?" you ask, grazing your lips over the shell of his ear, "Is this... not what you wanted?"

You voice is far away and sheepish. Even after all this time with Joel, you thought you'd matured since your... 'involvement', but here you were.

Scared. Needing approval.

Worried you'll disappoint him in your naivety.

Perhaps Joel was finally starting to see that this could never work. But your body craved his touch, and your mind craved his humor and conversation. Your heart longed for his presence, his attention, his love.

Just like now. Your hips grind onto his rough fingers, trailing them between your slick folds until they begin to glide with ease. Thoughts race a mile a minute despite your silence.

Silently, you hope that Joel is doing the same.

He slows his movements, and cranes his head back to see you fully. A dim lamp in the corner casts a golden halo around his salt-and-pepper hair. It cusps over his cheekbones and lead down to his gently bitten lips, much to your credit.

Time slows its movement, and for a split second you're contentedly frozen. A soft smile tugs at Joel's lips. Your breath hitches in your throat, like the first time you'd kissed. Fuck, you'd been so nervous.

You later found out that Joel had felt those same nerves. It helped to know that you weren't just some 'novice' because he was older.

Joel breaks the silence first, pulling you from your stupor, "You with me, babydoll?"

Meeting his eyes, you give him a sure nod. Joel's highest priority is to fulfill your request: To give you something to remember.

A knowing smirk pulls his mouth to the side, making you freeze in anticipation. Joel swiftly reaches toward his belt buckle, fiddling with the clinking metal until he unsheathes his leather belt, snaking it around his hips until he casts it to the ground.

Some freedom.

"What are you doing, Joel?" you prod.

His sharp stare stills you. The grip on your waist constricts you close to him.

"What's goin' on with this 'Joel' bullshit? Last I remember, you call me somethin' waaay different."

What's the point of that anymore, though? It's over. Right?

A beat passes. Joel raises an eyebrow, eyes never straying from your reddened face.

Ah, what the hell.

Warmth fills you again, your gaze is sickly sweet with adoration for the man you'd admired most. Your shift switches the gears for Joel - his gaze softens, though his grip is just as firm.

Joel warns you, "This ain't the last time you're seein' me, honey bunch, but I'm not leavin' you empty handed."

An eagerness swells in your chest at his words. You quickly reach for the top of his jeans, tugging away at the button and zipper. Joel rests his hand atop yours to bring your attention back. Like the sweet, submissive thing you were, with that intoxicating doe-eyed look.

"We don't got time to undress," he whispers. A twinge of regret is in his tone. "Not this time, baby. I'm sorry."

"Then, wha-" you cut off. Joel guides your hand past the elastic of his boxers through the shorts, and finally met with his cock. The length twitches at your gingerly touch as if in a silent greeting. One instructed movement has you moving in a frenzy.

Pump. Pump. Pump.

Joel's, previously occupied, fingers begin to stroke circles along your clit, and your soft cries return.

Each digit is calloused after years of projects, fix-ups, and good old hard labor. There was a roughness that most girls would avoid, but Joel's hands would have you unravelling in mere minutes.

You roll your hips with each swirl of his wrist, trying to hit the mark that would tighten the coil in your belly. Pressed against you, Joel's cock does not go ignored - your hand grips his shaft greedily; the pressure from your teasing hands brings a moan out of Joel.

"I'm gonna give you somethin' real nice this time. Okay, sugar?" His voice is slow, flowing honey, beckoning you to follow his word, for him to guide you like always.

A lilting moan falls past your lips and into Joel's neck; you feel his cheeks move with a knowing smile. He has you precisely where he wants you.

You strain, "Fuck... Daddy, you're gonna make- make me c-" A few quick flicks across your throbbing clit tears the words from you, replacing any words with a series of delicate, drawn-out whines.

It's the first time you said it this time. And fuck, Joel thought he would have to beg you to say it. It was then that he realized that just as much was at stake for him - that he could have everything you built together ripped away, and all because of a stupid fucking curfew. Seeing you, outside of the occasional dinner with your family, was going to be harshly limited.

Pretending that this doesn't affect him is the ultimate folly of Joel Miller. Despite his rugged personality, he put his heart into everything, and everyone.

It had been something Joel avoided. For him, Joel was able to lose himself in his daily life with the same expectation of seeing you. If the cycle continued, and if summer never ended, and if he did the same morning routine, maybe things wouldn't have to change.

Maybe you wouldn't have to leave.

A few swipes of Joel's thumb sends you over the edge of bliss. You close your eyes, met with flashes of color as the sensations wash over you. Joel winces at the dig of your fingernails in his shoulder.

You laugh, "Oh, come on. I've scratched you harder than that before, pussy."

"You really wanna waste your time snappin' at me?"

Joel's fingers work their way through your folds, toying absentmindedly with your aching hole and sore clit. Your cries fall on deaf ears. He has to give you what you asked for.

His hips buck on their own instinct, jutting into your hand, keeping his thick length occupied with fervor.

"Keep it up, sweetheart," coos Joel. His hands find the top of your pants, hooking his fingers in the waistband and tugging them downward, just above your knees. Another swift go discards your underwear, exposing your soaked cunt to the cold air.

Your panties are bound around the middle of your thighs, trembling together in the wake of your climax. Joel glances downward at your bare pussy, admiring the way your slick now covered every exposed inch of your soft skin.

A kiss presses against your temple, "Look at me, babydoll. Look at Daddy."

Like a moth to a flame, your eyes snap to his, and you witness him begin to crumble. Melting as easy as butter under your spell.

It's exactly what he needs to keep on. Joel joins a hand of his own with yours, working together along his length, until he eventually sets his own pace, leaving you in the dust.

Ever the slut for him, you slip a hand between your thighs, and place a finger on your neglected clit, tracing slow circles across your pearl. That alone is enough to sputter Joel's hips in his hand, eagerly fucking his fist at the sight of you.

Thick fingers grip into your hair, pressing you flush against Joel's cheek, where you could hear him perfectly when he uttered those last few words.

"Y'want somethin' to remember me by? I can show you what you'll be missin'," Joel breathes.

He forces a thigh between your legs, prying them apart to expose your panties, already soiled with a pool of your own slick. A wicked grin flashes on Joel's face, happy to add to the mess.

He takes in everything - your shaky breaths, the lewd sounds of you teasing your precious core, the way your fingers shine with your slick, your pure lust. It's enough to send him over the edge, though he swore in that moment, if he could redo this night, he would do it right next time.

Your name is barely past his lips when Joel grips the base of his cock, aiming himself at the middle of your tainted underwear. Ropes of warm, thick cum spurt across the fabric, on your thighs, on the outside of your needy pussy. A generous amount coats the fabric, surely enough to feel a bit uncomfortable, but it's your own way to keep Joel with you, your dirty little secret.

His teeth catch your earlobe, drawing out a soft whimper.

Joel mutters, "Is that good enough for ya, dirty girl?"

Heat pools between your thighs at his words, though you know they may be the last of the night. You give your best attempt of holding things together when Joel moves to work your panties back up your thighs.

Fitting them snugly to you, Joel brings a hand to your front, meandering down to your core, and presses a finger against your slit, mixing his own release into your folds.

Your fingers dig into his shoulders once again, erupting a low groan from your lover.

Reluctantly, Joel pulls his hand away and works on your bottoms, tugging them up your calves, to your thighs, and finally situating them at your waist. And finally, the silence falls. That same deafening sensation when something has to give, and no one wants to be the first to back down.

"I should probably go," you mutter, pressed against his heaving chest. Needless to say it was the last thing Joel needed to hear after his high.

He doesn't nod in agreement like you'd expected. He doesn't utter a word, let alone move from where he's holding you. If he moves, it's over, really over.

And if you move, he knows you're leaving.

"I love you."

The words were gentle, but wary, like a secret that had been tearing someone apart for a lifetime. As if they'd been held back as a means to stay protected.

You couldn't move. You didn't dare to breathe, just to make sure you'd heard it correctly.

But there wasn't much point in asking. Joel Miller was already a hard old bastard who couldn't open up, the odds of him repeating those words were slim to none.

And so, you smiled.

Even though tears prick your eyes, pool, and fall down your cheeks, you smile.

And through the voice cracks and shaky breath, you answer his call, "I love you, too."

Moments later, you're settled and ready to head home before your curfew, with a sinking feeling deep in the pit of your stomach. You face down the front door, as if silently begging yourself to leave it closed.

Things can... will change. This won't be our last time together. It can't be.

"Headin' out, honey bunch?" Joel's accent floods over you like an embrace. Somehow, his sweet voice delivers a fresh dose of pain.

You look over your shoulder to him, pushing yourself to give him a slight smile, and you nod.

It could've been for the better that you left without an official 'goodbye', and that Joel didn't hug you before you left, like he'd done on other nights. You knew his reasons. Hell, you would've probably done the same.

Pulling out your phone, you notice the feeling between your thighs as you walk, and a wicked smile spreads on your lips. You idly scroll through notifications while you reel over the encounter, of what you would do later this evening, using Joel's sweet parting gift for your own greed.

And you have every intention to tell Joel exactly what you'll do.

After all, less time fucking means more time teasing. And Joel Miller could be in for a world of trouble.

Hi everyone! I'm back to writing! I hope you enjoyed this lil fic, I'm sorry if it's not the best, I might have gotten a little rusty :')

thank you all for standing by me as i get back into the groove of things, i love you <3

[fivelasanctum]

Let The World Burn

Five was willing to let the world burn for more prolonged time with Lila. Showed how deeply he was in love with her. Hiding away from the world to be with her and nobody else. That she was enough. Around season three's climax he was already becoming settled in the mindset to let go of trying to save the world. The chaotic struggle is an addiction. Yet after 6 years of going without his chaotic fix with the added temptation to spend time with his best friend (Kemosabe)...he did easily agree. Believe Lila represented temptation to fall back into his 'chaos junkie' issue yet also serving as the temptation of caring about her. Making him backslide with his control and burying his feelings. Even with the aim to save the world, solve the cleanse issue, once lost in the subway his love overpowers that need to fix everyone's problems, including time and the world. Being just a man and embracing the romantic he has always been. Just secretly concealed outside of his time with Dolores. Realizing both he and Lila could afford to be selfish given their situation.

Here Five is hopeful he won't be pulled into another apocalyptic event he would have to struggle to remedy. Even though Lila made the choice to return to her kids (Not exactly Diego) I think their was that hope that they could still be together in reality and not just in their space outside of time. Without the overbearing weight of the cleanse. His family doing something without him for a change.

We know how that turns out. Messy misunderstandings, stress from the chaos of the personal and cosmic issues transpiring. Thinking Lila made her choice made retreat to the subway. Not caring about the world. Saving his family because Lila had become his world. Song's lyrics put it best: "Dead to the world"

Anti Fivela fans had made the argument over how he wasn't in character. He was determined to save the world and his family for 40 years and how this five would never do what he has done in Season 4. I vehemently disagree. As Viktor said, he was old and tired. His rough, long life has beaten him down to the point of him being more numb and aimless at the start of season 4. He wanted retirement desperately even before that. Add to that, in 7 years his love for lila was enough to overpower his previous responsibilities. Technically known her for close to 13 years. Shows the intensity of his feelings for her despite it not be 40 + years to be what's most important to him. More than the world. When his heart was broken he retreated to the subway. Knowing what he was signing up for. Solitude in apocalypse worlds. Just like how he started. Where he formed his psychological scars and ptsd. Only worse since Five seems to feel deeper than other characters despite the walls and masks he projects. Succumbed to despair. For all we knew, he may have been suicidal since he maybe lacks the energy to keep fighting. He made it through again when stuck in the subway most likely because Lila was there with him.

Makes sense his psychological mindset with wanting a solution to fix the world so they all could live, yet hearing all his alternate selves struggle to fight and try to accomplish the goal resulting in failure...coupled with his broken heart made it easier to give in. Dying alone or together...wasn't a prospect that Five was eager for but their was a certain tragic beauty to him realizing they wouldn't die alone even as the world was ending and burning.

While I was making screen captures noticed extra glances they share with each other. Not just in their final moment but leading up to it. Thought it was significant that lila had her gaze locked on him while he was talking and then that same side glance turned more heartbreaking as she revealed her love in her eyes. Letting her sadness show with her tears, much like how she only felt comfortable breaking down with Five in the subway minutes before. Then the last moment when five shows his sorrow and love in his eyes I thought I noticed his mouth move subtly in a ghost of a near smile in acknowledgement and possibly comfort with her holding his hand and understanding the love that was left unspoken.

[amomentsescape]

I'm dead, its finals for the semester at my school. Could you do a different slashers x reader were the reader has finals and is burnt out, emotional, and overwhelmed and they hate to see the reader that way and maybe some even get mad at the school for causing this and do somthing about it like making it shut down for a while?

Slashers with Stressed! Reader During Finals Week

A/N: Thank you so much for the request! Please, make sure to take care of yourself during this time. I wish you the best of luck on your finals! :)

Freddy Krueger

Anything but smiling is basically a no-go in his book

The fact that he also hasn't seen you in a while only makes him more frustrated

He's aware of the all-nighters you've been pulling recently

Your head buried in numerous books and pages

He decides enough is enough and shows up in your world instead

Your desk is a mess, and he can see the slight puffiness under your eyes from your most recent breakdown

Yeah, he needs to end this

He gives you a reassuring hug and disappears again

He finally comes back about an hour later, a smile on his face

"There won't be school for a while"

You look at him confused

However, all the lack of sleep was catching up with you, so you don't argue as he leads you to bed, tucking yourself under the sheets

The next morning, you wake up to several notifications on your phone, all of them saying that several students were found dead in their beds last night

The whole school was going to be shut down for a while as an investigation ensues

You could practically hear Freddy's laugh echo in your mind

Michael Myers

He doesn't understand why you're so stressed out

It's just a few tests

If they're bothering you so much, just skip them

But as he watches your desperate attempt to explain why you have to take them and everything that's on the line if you don't, he finally gives up

He hates seeing you so upset about something so trivial

So he heads out that night while you're snoozing on the desk, having passed out on accident

You finally wake up a couple hours later, you eyes slowly adjusting to Michael in front of you

He's changing out of his dirty clothes, trying carefully not to wake you

However, when he notices you looking at him confused, he just walks over to you

In his hands, the bloody school ID's from every single one of your professors

Jason Voorhees

Jason has been practically begging you to go to sleep or eat SOMETHING

But you keep refusing him, too overwhelmed at the amount of studying you have to do

You are hoping that by using every possible minute you have, you'll be able to at least pass these finals

But Jason feels like you're just torturing yourself

So while you're drowning out the world with your headphones, Jason is slipping out to your school

He somehow manages to destroy most of the campus's electrical supply

This gives you a couple extra days to prepare and actually take care of yourself

When you find out the news, you can't help but jump onto Jason

He's just happy to finally see a smile on your face

Thomas Hewitt

You had to explain just what a final was and how it affects you by not passing

He understands why you're so stressed now, but it doesn't make the situation any better in his opinion

He tries to tend to you as much as possible

Drinks, food, back rubs, blankets, etc.

Literally anything that he feels would make you comfortable in the moment, he brings to you

Will stay up with you too, waiting for the minute you need something

He really enjoys taking care of you too, so none of it feels like a chore

As much as he would like to make dinner out of your professors for overwhelming you this much, he knows that it would only stress you out more

Plus, he's confident you'll do well on your finals!

You are the smartest person he knows, honestly

Bubba Sawyer

He's also completely at your beck and call

He doesn't feel comfortable leaving home on his own, so he doesn't know how to help get rid of the source of your stress

But he's very much willing to alleviate it as much as he can

He makes you dinner, prepares some warm tea, and even gets the fireplace going for you

He also tries to clean and tidy up the area around you, hoping it will help you focus more

He's never taken an exam before, but he definitely knows it's important to you

And what matters to you, matters to him

He shushes everyone who walks by just a little too loud, earning a couple laughs from you

He does pull you away from the desk every once in a while though, making you lie down with him and cuddle

He assures you that taking breaks is good for you, but you're starting to think the cuddles are more for him than you

Brahms Heelshire

Grades were pretty important to his parents growing up, so he understands the pressure

But taking 5 huge exams in the span of a week?

That's actually ridiculous

Will play some classical music for you, telling you that it always helped him focus when he was younger

Will be a little more lenient about you following the rules

But he still expects you to give him attention

If he feels you haven't given him enough affection in the past hour, he will be all up in your business like a neglected cat

He isn't helping your focus much unfortunately

But he eventually makes a deal with you to help you study

This way, you're still using your time wisely, and Brahms is still receiving your attention

Will ask you questions from flashcards to see if you're answering them correctly

Gives you a kiss every time you get one right

He honestly has full faith that you'll do great on your finals

Norman Bates

Norman is trying his best to relax you, holding you tight while you explain your worries and frustrations

But the moment he hears your voice break and sees the tears running from your eyes, his memory goes blank

All he remembers is feeling an intense rage settle into his body

Not at you, but at your school for making you feel this way

He finally comes to a few hours later

It's already dark out, and he's standing over your sleeping form lying on the couch

He tucks you in quietly and helps tidy up your papers a bit

When you wake up the next morning, you have different notifications from your school and fellow classmates

You pull up a news report stating that the school was basically in shambles, and they even found a body of one of the professors in an empty classroom

This meant that your tests were going to be pushed off for a while until they sorted everything out

Norman looks just as confused as you do

"It's okay, dear. You should go back to sleep, okay?"

You simply nod and tuck yourself back in, thankful that you have some time to finally rest

Billy Loomis

Billy has thought this through for a while

Because he's also needing to take finals with you

He kind of just shrugs them off, being fortunate enough to ace every test he's ever taken, with or without studying

But you on the other hand, were barely holding yourself together

You were basically surviving on just caffeine and adrenaline, the fear of failing being enough to keep you awake late into the night

Now, as much as Billy would love to kill off half the school's population, he knew better

Graduating was important to you, and he didn't want to risk prolonging that

So he went with plan B

He threatened the school

He did the second best thing he knew how to do, and that was making a phone call and telling the school that if professors or students showed up during the next two days, they were going to end up killed

This was enough to put everything in lockdown for a few days

How he managed to not get traced was unbeknownst to you

But you were still incredibly thankful, finally relaxing in his arms for the first time in days

Stu Macher

Now Stu didn't really think this through like Billy had

He just went in for plan A

He didn't want to take these tests either!

But he also didn't want to put in a lot of work to prevent them

He just wanted to stay by your side as much as possible, hating to see you so worked up over these finals

So he did the "bare minimum" in his words

He went to school, killed a couple teachers, cut the phone lines and major electrical units, and went on his merry way

And of course, the school was immediately shut down as a huge investigation ensued

But Stu was happy with his decision

Now, he could spend the next few days with you AND see you relaxed for once

It was a win-win

Although murder may not have been your first option, you still gave him a big kiss as compensation

Eric Draven

Of course Eric being Eric, murder is not the first solution in his book

He's taken plenty of finals in his day

He knows the pressure and the stress

And as much as he hated seeing you this way, he knew that the storm would blow over soon

But that's not to say he can't make you as comfortable as possible during it

He dug out an old heating pad and gave it to you, happy to see the wide smile you showed him once you grabbed it

He also lit a few of your favorite candles, trying to keep the atmosphere as relaxing as possible

He ordered take out for you both, got you your favorite drink, and even played some good studying music for you

He knew he wasn't going to be able to prevent you from pulling an all-nighter, so it only made sense for him to join you!

He ended up turning the whole night into one big study sleepover

He even helped you stay organized and provided a few study techniques that always worked for him

He's truly the perfect man to have by your side during this time

[ralvezfanatic]

Kiss me! Kiss me!! Kiss me again!!!

Spencer Reid x Tall Male!Reader

Garcia steps out to go buy food, leaving Reader and a tired, annoyed and definitely not pouty, Spencer alone for a moment. Unfortunately she forgot something causing her to go back and walk in on the two lovers kissing.

Warnings: Kissing. Being caught. Not really proofread. That's all I can think of, lmk if I missed anything. Reader is taller than Spencer. Whiny Spencer. Sorta OOC

Title stolen off of Kiss Me <3 bc i love Vampyx !!

Word count: 1.2k

"Go on Garcia! It's like..." You check the clock quickly, thinking a second trying to remember the time zones before speaking again.

"...4am in New York!" You finished, wanting Garcia to leave without too much worry.

"3am. It's 3am in New York, the team hasn't called us in a while, and we'll be fine if they do. I'm here! With this genius, we'll be alright for a few hours."

"3am." Spencer mumbled out to correct you.

Garcia looked at you, a smile on her face appreciating your kindness. She stood up, nodding as she finally gave in.

"Okay! You're totally right, lover boy, right right. I can leave for a little, get something to eat quickly." She continued nodding, collecting her things as she talked.

She was hesitant to leave, it was a stressful case, most leads ended up in a dead end. She knew you would be fine if the team needed something, but the stress didn't want to let her go out.

She stopped, wondering if she had everything. "Umm.. yes.. yes?" She listed things off. With a last "yes" she hummed and thanked you again.

"I'll be back soon. I'll bring something for you two, don't worry." She smiled, ruffling your hair.

"Thank you Pen!!" You waved at her, but she was already walking out, her heels clicking with each of her steps. Finally she walks out the door and closes it, leaving you and Spencer alone.

He had injured himself once more, and wasn't allowed on the field for a while so he was left with the tech analysts again. He didn't really mind, spending time with his best friend and boyfriend was not something to be complaining about. He spun a bit in his chair, looking down at the floor, wishing he could go home and sleep. He was tired, uncomfortable and slightly irritated from the case.

You turned to him, watching him move in his chair with a smile on your face finding his movements silly. Even though he was obviously annoyed, he still

"C'mere.." You called to him, rolling your chair closer to him before he even had the chance to move.

You stood up, pulling his arms to make him stand up with you. He looked up, not wanting to stand up but was only met with your pleading eyes.

He sighed and started to stand up slowly, using you as support. You smiled at his compliance, helping him so he doesn't put too much weight on his injury.

You wrapped your arms around his waist, pulling him closer to you. You looked down at him, your faces inches apart, a smile on your face.

"Did you make me stand just to stare at me? Or to remind yourself of the small height difference?" Spencer asked you, unamused with the fact he stood for seemingly no reason.

Honestly you didn't know why exactly you made him stand, his questioning made you chuckle though.

"No, of course not." You shook your head and leaned down in an attempt to kiss him.

He blushed and shook his head trying to pull away, or stop you.

"No! We're at work, in your shared little room. It's unprofessional!" He frowned, desperately wanting to give in and just kiss you, but not wanting to be break the rules at work.

"Nobody is going to walk in! It's like.. past 2am, the teams across the country and Garcia just left to buy food, we'll be fine." You insisted, knowing that you two would be safe to kiss.

"No, what if someone else walks in? What if someone comes looking for one of us! What if-".

You quickly cut him off with a kiss, which immediately shut him up. He was still worried, scared someone would walk in, but he didn't do much to pull away from your kissing. Actually, he melted into it quickly, wrapped his arms around your shoulders, both for comfort and support.

You hummed out feeling his arms wrap around you, happy he gave in. You had only meant for it to be a short kiss, but Spencer had let out a small whimper when you pulled away. Now, how could you even think about making your injured boyfriend sad.

You shook your head, a chuckle escaping at his pouty face.

"Thought you said it was unprofessional?" You raised your eyebrow at him, only to be met with furrowed eyebrows and a bigger pout.

"Y/N!" He whined, sounding like a child about to throw a tantrum. You rolled your eyes, leaning down to meet his lips again, but spoke before actually kissing him.

"Don't start stomping your foot now." You laughed before he crashed his mouth into yours, wanting to shut you up from your stupid comments.

He pulled you closer, trying to deepen the kiss which you quickly allowed, turning the supposedly sweet kiss into a small makeout session.

"Hey boy genius and boy genius lover!" Penelope's voice called out from outside, quickly opening the door before either of you could move.

"I forgot my-" She started, the door swinging open and immediately cut herself off seeing you two leaned against the desk.

Spencer quickly broke away from the kiss, but not daring to face her, his face completely red from embarrassment. You looked over at Penelope, cheeks flushed as you continued to hold Spencer by his waist.

"Oh! Am I interrupting, boy.. time..? Sorry sorry.. let me just quickly grab this and leave." She apologized quickly, shuffling in and leaning around the both of you to grab her forgotten item.

She backed up, patting Spencer on his shoulder before she walked out. "Didn't think you had it in you Spencer, making out at work!?"

"Derek is not going to believe this.." She giggled before closing the door and leaving.

Spencer cringed at her comment, knowing Derek was going to tease him about this nonstop for the next month (if not more).

He turned his head up, glaring at you as he spoke.

"See! I told you we'd get caught!" He huffed, pulling his arms off your shoulders and looked away from you.

"Well it's not like I was the only one participating in the kiss was I? Or the one who whined when I tried to pull away." You responded, not appreciating how your boyfriend tried to put the blame all on you.

He let out another annoyed huff at your comment, knowing you were right, but obviously he wasn't going to take the blame when he could just continue to put it on you.

"You gave in to the second kiss when you could have easily just stopped."

"Yeah and then deal with your whining and pouty ass the rest of the night?"

"I don't whine!"

You stare at him, eyebrow raised wondering if he seriously believed that.

He did.

"What? I don't pout, or whine! I'm a grown man, not a child.." He said after a couple of seconds of being stared at.

"Mhm.." You hummed out, not wanting to continue with this anymore. Spencer, of course, did not pout at your lack of response.

"Whatever you say Spencer." You chuckled, giving him a soft kiss on his forehead.

He let out yet another huff, completely unappreciating your comments about his maturity.

You let go of his waist, allowing him to back away and sit back down, but instead he looked at you as soon as you let go. You looked back down at him, wondering why he wasn't moving back to his chair.

"What?"

He turned around, making sure the door was closed before leaning back and tugging on your shirt to meet your lips once more.

[mistywaves98]

Omg double request???????? slay??????? Whatabout,,,,,, yan albedo,, kidnapping reader n keeping her in a cage for stress relief,, like he'll occasionally feed her and give her water ofc, but a lot of the time he'll lace it with aphrodesiacs and let her suffer in the cage until she's begging to be fucked- boy makes absolutely sure she humiliates herself- like girl's fighting for her freedom? He'll just make her so desperate she has nowhere to turn to but to him.

-the amazing super awesome best anon ever/jjj

Sorry for taking sooo long with this, I lost motivation and when I got it back I decided to rewrite the whole thing 💀 and I'm finally back from the dead!

✧･ﾟ:* Yandere! Albedo x Fem! Reader

✧･ﾟ:* ¡Warnings!: NSFW, Yandere/Darker Themes, Kidnapping, Fingering, Making out, Aphrodisiacs, Teasing, slight sadist! Albedo, that's all I think!

✧･ﾟ:* Minor writing smut! DNI if uncomfy!

Reblogs are greatly appreciated!

You hadn't even known him for that long or that closely, yet he felt a constant yearning whenever you weren't around. You were just another adventurer that completed commissions for the guild, so why did he like you so much? This want for you was hindering his research since he couldn't focus when you were on his mind 24/7. Weighing his options he figured it would be pointless trying to persuade you to stay with him forever since you enjoyed your freedom, it was really obvious. So what was plan B?

Why to keep you with him by force of course.

As adventurous as you were, you could also be a little to trusting and oblivious at times. Everything was calculated down to the smallest detail. Eventually he had formulated the perfect plan to make sure you were his. Due to Albedo's precision, it wasn't long before you were in his lab, unconscious.

Upon stripping you of your weapon and vision, Albedo realized that he missed one crucial thing. He didn't plan on what to do with you after kidnapping you. It's not like you were there for any reason other than to satisfy his desire for your company.

Eventually he settled on a cage he happened to have when he wanted to observe live monsters he captured for research. He cleaned and even cushioned it a bit before placing your limp body inside. Once he locked the gate he decided that all was good and he could focus again now that you were under his surveillance 24/7.

It had been months, maybe even years and although the likely answer to how much time had passed was the former, the latter was definitely what it felt like. Although it was unlikely you could have escaped, Albedo decided to cuff your arm to the bars just in case. The bindings were tight and made your wrists sore but there was nothing you could do about it.

It made you furious that all you could do was sit there like a doll on display, only taken out to be tampered with from time to time. But again, you were helpless.

You were snapped out of your sulking as the hinges of your cage creaked open and a plate of steaming food was placed into it. As quickly as it was unlocked, it was shut once more. You stared at the meal with a sour look, as good of a cook he was you didn't trust his food because of numerous.... occasions.

But you were so hungry and you could feel your mouth watering at the smell. So as always, you reluctantly gave into your needs.

Why did it end up like this? You already knew the answer. Aphrodisiacs. In your food. That's what lead you here, completely naked on his lap with your back against his chest, two fingers shoved in your mouth while three more are shoved up your pussy not moving an inch. You desperately try to grind your hips onto them for any sort of friction to help you reach your high but you just can't. You can't even begin when the pads of his gloved hand flatten your tongue against the bottom of your mouth. The most you can do is pathetically whimper in hopes he'll get the hint and he does but would rather see you suffer so you just have to sit there, waiting until he decides what to do to you.

"I assume you want me to move my fingers,hm?" A sharp thrust makes you gasp. "C'mon, tell me darling, what do you want from me." He chuckles cruelly when all that escapes you mouth is muffled whines and incoherent noises. "Ok ok, I'll let you talk." As soon as the fingers leave your mouth you speak,"Please, please let me cum! I-I'll be good, just—" You're cut off by another thrust of his fingers into your tight cunt but this time they continue plunging in and out making you moan in ecstasy as you feel your orgasm building up.

Albedo's free hand traveled down your neck and began fondling your exposed breasts making you arch your back at the added stimulation. In doing so you slightly shifted your positions and you couldn't help but cry out as you felt him hit that sweet spot inside of you. "N-ngh f-feels soooo good 'bedo! Please don't s-stop!" Hearing you say his name always made something stir inside of him, something that told him to go harder. "C-cumming!" With that you gushed all over his fingers, coating them with cum that dripped onto his lap, soaking his clothes but that was the least of his worries. You couldn't see the ways his eyes darkened form the position you were in but when he moved a hand to tilt your chin to face him you were met with that scary smirk that, even through your dazed state, had learned to fear because it always meant nothing good.

"Who gave gave you permission to cum? I don't recall saying you could orgasm, now look at the mess you've made." As if there wasn't already a mess," 'm sorry...I—" you were cut off as his lips met yours. His hand shifted form your chin to hold your face in a way that give him firmer grip. Drool ran down your chin as his tongue entered your mouth, licking everywhere it could reach.

When he finally broke the kiss, you were panting heavily. Albedo observed your face as you gazed at him through half lidded eyes. Dried tears stained your face as a bright red blush covered it, beads of sweat ran down your face and your eyes we're puffy and swollen. You were certainly a sight for sore eyes, Albedo made sure to make a mental image of it to paint later.

Lifting you up into the desk, be shoved everything on it aside as he laid you on your stomach. Now your lower half was hanging over the edge and you tensed as the cold surface met your hot skin. You gasped as something big and hard pressed up against your pussy's entrance. "You wanted to cum so bad so you did so without my approval, how disobedient of you... but don't worry, now I'll give you all the orgasms you want."

[tightjeansjavi]

Slow Hands | Chapter 4

“I used to float, now I just fall down”

A/N: so I already forewarned that this was going to be a particularly heavy chapter. I also just want to say that I don’t claim to be a medical expert on the effects trauma can have on a person. I also do not self diagnose, but I did a lot of research on the reasoning behind why Beanie doesn’t have any recollection of what happened to her. I specifically researched‘dissociative amnesia’ caused by trauma. Some of the symptoms may include a person forgetting part or all of the traumatic event, and having a ‘foggy’ memory of trauma, or feeling like ‘it didn’t happen to you.’ However, even if you are unable to recall specific details, your body still does which would explain Beanie’s flight or fight response to specific sounds. Depending on the person, your body may associate certain sounds, sights, and smells to a specific traumatic event. Thank you for reading 🤎

~word count: 4.1k~

Pairing | Joel Miller x f!reader

Summary: while on patrol, Tommy and Joel make a gruesome discovery.

Warnings: disturbing/distressing themes that may be harmful to some viewers. Please do not read if this kind of content upsets you. Violence, dead bodies, talk of the past, mention of murder, mentions of guns, mentions of chains, implied S/A by raiders, women held captive, trauma, trauma triggers, PTSD, possible diagnosis of dissociative amnesia (I do not claim to be an expert and just did some heavy research to make it accurately depicted in the story), protective! Joel, Beanie dissociates on her rooftop, implied suicidal thoughts, implied depression, isolation, some fluff towards the end, Joel is incredibly gentle with beanie, no age gap, reader has no physical descriptions, readers nickname is beanie (coffee beans) +18, minors dni! Please heed the warnings!

main masterlist series masterlist playlist

“What the hell do ya mean she doesn’t know what fuckin’ happened to herself? What does that even mean,Tommy?!” Joel was visibly frustrated, confused, and bewildered. His mind was already running circles as he tried to piece together what he knew about you. He was desperate to grasp some context clues that would ultimately lead to a conclusion as to what had happened to you. He gently pulled back on his horse's reins between a cluster of snow dusted evergreens.

Tommy, however, kept his horse moving and this frustrated Joel even further.

“Don’t you fuckin’ walk away from me like you’re deaf or somethin’ ,Tommy!”

The younger Miller brother cursed under his breath as he halted his horse a few strides ahead of Joel. Both brothers were deathly silent. Tommy rolled his shoulders, appearing to try and relieve some stress and tension that was building up. He gently pulled the inside rein towards his torso as he turned his horse around. “Would you fuckin’ keep your goddamn voice down? This is exactly why I don’t want to discuss this with you, Joel.”

“You think I give a damn? What, you just expect me to go ‘bout my business when she crumbled into my arms this morning?’ Tommy, you know me, you know I ain’t gonna let this go.” Joel’s tone was far softer now. His frustrations were still simmering below the surface like that of a once dormant volcano that was gradually becoming active once more.

“Look, Maria and I have our own assumptions about what happened to her. When we found her..she was in pretty fuckin’ rough shape. She was most likely traveling for days without food or water Joel. She was barely breathin’, and for a moment we thought she was long gone.”

“Well, that ain’t all surprising..considerin’ we’re livin’ in an apocalypse Tommy.” Joel fought the urge to scoff under his breath. Tommy wasn’t giving him a straight answer and he wasn’t having any of it.

“That ain’t the fuckin’ point, Joel. Maria..she found somethin’ on her.” Tommy trailed off as he focused anywhere but his brother’s face.

“Tommy, what the hell did she find? Spit it out, or so help me god–” He nearly growled out as his jaw clenched harshly under the pale white moonlight.

“Someone tried to fuckin’ carve her up. That’s what.” Tommy deadpanned.

“what?” Joel could feel the bile rise in his throat at this newfound utterly disturbing information. His pupils were blown wide and an unsettling chill rolled down his spine.

“You fuckin’ heard me. Some sick fucks tried to carve her up. Maria and I both think it was raiders.”

“..like us?” Joel’s question hung heavy in the air as both Miller brothers slowly looked over at one another. There was nothing for them to hide. They had both done unspeakable things to countless people. Some people deserved it..others? Not so much. Joel knew it would be impossible for him to wipe all of his sins and carnage completely clean. His moral compass had been skewed after Sarah died. His actions were fueled by rage and indescribable pain. But even though he was a murderer, and he,Tommy, and Tess committed heinous crimes together, even they had their limits.

“No, Joel. Not like us. We didn’t fuckin’ carve people up.” Tommy shook his head with a heavy sigh. Maria didn’t know half of the shit he had done to survive, and he hoped to god she would never find out.

“No, you’re right. We didn’t carve people up, but we did some terrible fuckin’ things, Tommy.” There was a heaviness in Joel’s voice that lingered in the frosty air.

“Yeah, we did. Endure and survive, right?” Tommy responded with a bitter laugh that slowly crept up his throat.

“So, when you say that they tried to carve her up..”

“Maria found a knife wound that pretty much wraps all the way up her torso and back. It was, and is gruesome.”

“Fuck.” Joel breathed out a puff of air as his heart began to hang heavy in his chest. “She doesn’t remember any of it?”

“No. We actually had Doc check her out after we brought her in, and he thinks she might have dissociative amnesia. He said it’s commonly found in patients that have dealt with an excessive form of trauma. Essentially, her brain is blocking out certain events to protect itself. He of course doesn’t know for sure, but that’s the best explanation he could give as to why she has a foggy memory of what happened to her. He also..thinks there’s a chance that she was heavily drugged for an extended period of time, which could have also led to her memory essentially being botched. That wasn’t..all that Doc found. He also said that after doing a full body exam–”

Joel cut him off immediately like a sharp knife slicing through a hunk of meat. “Stop. Not another word, Tommy. Not another fuckin’ word.” Joel whispered harshly under his breath. He could only imagine the hell you went through. God help those motherfuckers if he ever got his hands on them.

“All this is to say that she may never fully recover those memories. Frankly? It’s probably for the best. I’m entrustin’ you with this information, Joel. And I need you to promise me that you’re not going to go and ask her questions. I need you to bite your fuckin’ tongue on this one. Alright? Jus’ be her friend. Jus’ be there for her.”

Joel wanted to laugh. He wanted to bitterly laugh and shake his fists to the heavens above because how in the hell was he supposed to just deal with the guilt of having some form of knowledge on what happened to you. How was he supposed to look you in the eyes without imagining the horrors that you faced? How was he supposed to pretend?

“Tommy, you know I can’t–”

“I don’t give a damn on what you think you can’t do, Joel. I’m not about to let you or anyone for that matter go and traumatize that poor woman even more. Maria started treatin’ her different than everyone else at one point, and Beanie came to me one day and wanted to know why. I had to sit down with Maria and practically beg her to just treat her like a normal person. Folks ‘round here either think she’s the nutty coffee woman, or some fragile piece of china that is gonna shatter at any minute. She ain’t either of those things, but hey, I guess even an apocalypse can’t stop people from havin’ their judgements.”

“For the record, Tommy, I don’t think she’s either of those things either. Quirky? Sure. She’s better than half the folks in town. That is for damn certain.”

“Exactly. So just treat her like a normal person. Don’t go and try to be her savior either. She ain’t need savin. She just needs a friendly face that understands her.”

“I have a friendly face?” Joel murmured with a soft chuckle to alleviate the tension.

“Hardly, big brother.” Tommy softly joked back.

“So, just so I got this all straight, Doc said that he thinks she might have..dissociative amnesia..but then what about her triggers? Does he know about her episodes? Cus’ she looked at me like I was gonna fuckin’ hurt her. If her brain is tryin’ to block out the trauma..her body is still actively experiencing it?” Joel asked as he gently nudged his horse’s side to walk forward.

“Y’know how you have your own triggers? I’m thinkin’ that she does as well. However, hers are most likely associated with noise. When we first brought her in we had her stay at our place for awhile..and there was one mornin’ I was up early putzin’ around the kitchen and I guess the sound of a pan clatterin’ in the sink freaked her out. She kept tellin’ Maria someone was out to get her, but when Maria asked who, she couldn’t answer.”

“Well..that explains what happened this mornin.’ I jus’ uh—wanted to do somethin’ nice for her so I was shovelin’ her walkway. Maybe the sound of the shovel scrapin’ on the concrete triggered her?”

“Well, chivalry ain’t dead. That’s for damn sure. Yeah, I’m sure it triggered her flight or fight response. She wasn’t logically able to decipher what the noise actually was. Y’know, I'm pretty sure Doc has some books on this stuff if you wanna read up on it.”

Joel was just about to respond when his horse let out a nervous snort and pawed at the ground with his hoof. Horses were incredibly intuitive creatures. They could sense danger from a mile away.

Both Tommy and Joel were already grasping their rifles in a fight response. There was a drifting odor of smoke from a fire..at first Joel thought it was just a typical wood burning fire, until the putrid stench of rotting flesh hit his olfactory senses and it brought him right back to living in the QZ. His eyes watered, and his lungs burned. No doubt in his mind that there was a raider camp nearby.

“We should turn back right fuckin’ now Joel. We should go find the others—” Tommy hissed under his breath.

“No. We’re gonna go investigate. Lucas and Cody probably already detected the smoke as well. This ain’t the first time you and I have gone into somethin’ together. You cover me, and I’ll cover you. Deal?” It was incredible how fast Joel was able to switch back into survival mode. It was embedded deep within his bones, and it didn’t take much for it to be clawing right through his skin. He had been the hunter, more times than he had been the prey.

“If we’re outnumbered, then we split. Got it?” Tommy wasn’t about to go and risk his life tonight.

“Got it.” Joel agreed.

The raiders camp was only a few miles to the east from Jackson. The smoke was billowing high in the air as Joel and Tommy used the snowy evergreens as cover. They had since dismounted from their horses and continued on foot. The camp they stumbled upon was freshly abandoned..but why keep the fire going? Was the first thought that crossed both Joel and Tommy’s minds. They had the barrel of their rifles aimed at the ready as they cautiously crept through the camp. The smell of rotting flesh only began to intensify as they neared the source of the fire.

What they stumbled upon was nothing short of gruesome. Five bodies in total stacked upon chopped down logs. It was difficult to make out facial features, as the deceased bodies were charred to a crisp. One thing was for certain, these people were not infected.

“Were they killed for sport?” Tommy questioned as Joel slowly crouched down next to a body that wasn’t as scorched completely. He could make out feminine features and long follicles of hair. He could feel the bile churn deep in the pit of his stomach as he looked away and pressed his face into the collar of his jacket to try and block out the smell. “These are women, Tommy. Five of ‘em. All dead.”

“Jesus fuck. What the hell happened here?” Lucas and Cody had smelled the fire as well. They were in utter disbelief as they approached the slow burning fire.

“Raiders.” Joel muttered under his breath as he slowly stood back up. His knees cracked from the movement as he grinded his teeth together to block out the uncomfortable tightness in his back.

“Were they infected?” Lucas had asked.

“No. They were just..people.” Tommy somberly confirmed.

Silence washed over the four men as they retreated from the fire. Joel kicked at a pair of heavy chains that laid upon the ground with his boot. “These women were prisoners.”

“We need to put this fire out, and then report back to Maria immediately. She’s goin’ to want to hear about this, and I already know she ain’t gonna be happy.” Tommy muttered as he slung his rifle strap along his shoulder.

“Tommy, we can’t just leave them here. They deserve a proper burial. They deserve to be laid to rest..” Joel couldn’t help but wonder how long these five women were enslaved. Could they have been saved if the patrol group had left earlier? Five lives could have been saved if only he had just—

“Joel, I hear you brother, but the ground is too hard. We can’t bury them. I’m sorry.” Tommy was sorry. These five women deserved better. He wanted to be able to bring them peace as well, but some things were just not possible.

“Fine. I’ll fuckin’ do it myself.” Joel snapped as he slung his rifle strap over his shoulder in one swift movement. He started the trek back to his horse while Lucas and Cody kicked a bit of snow over the dying embers.

Joel returned with a blanket from his saddle bag. He was going to attempt to move the bodies, but he was afraid that their charred bones would shatter. Instead he gently laid the blanket over their remains. He stood there for a good solid five minutes just staring down at the snow covered earth with a clenched jaw, before he finally walked away.

For the entirety of the somber ride back to Jackson, Joel was dead silent.

It had felt like months had passed since you had last seen Joel Miller. In all actuality, it had only been one month. Your brain was just going all doomsday mode on you and convincing you it had been longer. At first you had tricked yourself in believing that maybe Joel didn’t actually want to be your friend. Maybe he was just lying. Maybe he too thought of you as just the nutty coffee woman. It wasn’t till Maria had given you a surprise visit to your little coffee shop. While she was quietly sipping on her latte, you couldn’t help but ask if she had seen Joel lately. You felt slightly pathetic with a sprinkle of naivety. Were you really that desperate for human connection?

“I assigned him, Tommy and a few other men to patrol the late night shift. They stumbled upon something in the woods, and brought it to my attention. Now, before you start freaking out, we are safe here. What they found was just concerning, and they’re making sure that there is no active threat that we need to pay any concern to.”

You paused the movements of the towel below your palm as you were wiping down the countertop. “Oh. I thought maybe he just..nevermind. What exactly did they find in the woods that was concerning, Maria?”

“Beanie, you know I can’t disclose that to you. All I need you to remember is that you're safe. That’s why we have patrol parties. They keep everyone in the commune safe. I just figured you were deserving to know that Joel hasn’t been blowin’ you off for the past month. Him and Tommy are resting in the morning after patrolling all night. It shouldn’t be an issue now that the weather is starting to shift. Usually means that people are movin’ on as resources will be plentiful again.”

You let out a sigh as you crossed your arms over your chest. It did feel silly in some way that you let your brain convince you that Joel was in fact blowing you off. “Yeah.” You mumbled under your breath. “I know why you can’t disclose that information to me.”

“You’ll see him in a few weeks, Beanie. Don’t worry.” Maria reassured you.

Ha

By the time that you did see Joel again, winter wasn’t quite ready to release her icy grip around the earth. She was going to cling on just a bit longer. It was late at night and to put it simply? You were having a rough time. Spending the majority of your day alone was beginning to close in around you. The thoughts were growing louder and louder, and the nightmares you had begun to experience were the same sequence over and over like a vicious cycle that you were sucked down into, unable to escape its painful clutches. That's how you found yourself sitting alone on your roof. Your bedroom window was opened just enough that you were able to climb out onto the roof tiles. You were shivering at first, trembling as your teeth rattled against your jaw. Soon enough, the nipping chill didn’t feel as painful. A peaceful numbness washed over you as if you were in a trance.

Joel had just gotten back from being on patrol. He stopped at the stables to untack his horse, Tex and then he was heading home. He passed by your house every night, and he would stop at your front gate, debate seeing if you were awake, before he would ultimately decide going straight home was easier. On this particular night he was torn from his path home. All because he swore he saw a shadowy figure sitting on your rooftop. He thought maybe his own mind was playing tricks on him until he stepped closer to your house. He was then able to make out a human shape sitting upon the roof tiles. He didn’t even have to guess hard if it was you sitting up there. He just knew.

He called your name, and you didn’t budge a smidge.

“For fuck sakes.” He muttered under his breath as he cupped his hands on either side of his face and yelled your name once more. “BEANIE!” This time his baritone voice broke through the figurative icy shell that was wrapped around you like a cloak. You finally looked down, squinting through the vast darkness.

“Woman is gonna fuckin’ freeze to death out here. Fuck. What the hell is she doin’ up there anyway?!?” He muttered to himself as he pushed open your gate. “I’m comin’ up!” He yelled from the top step of your front porch.

Joel?

The sounds of his heavy boot steps descending up your staircase sounded muffle to your ears as you slowly dropped your chin to rest along your kneecap.

“Jesus fuck, Beanie. What the hell are you doin’ out here?” Joel harshly whispered as he pushed open your bedroom door. He had genuine concern stricken through his hardened features.

“Sitting outside on the roof.” You murmured.

“Yeah, ya don’t say? I can see that you’re sittin’ on the roof, but its fuckin’ freezin’ out here. Why don’t ya have a jacket? A blanket? Beanie, you’re gonna fuckin’ freeze to death out here.” He was already slipping his own jacket off of his shoulders and gently placing it along your shoulders as he carefully climbed through the window and onto the roof beside you.

“I don’t really feel the cold anymore, Joel.” There was a lack of emotion in your tone as your eyes slowly flitted over to him.

“Fuck. Well, that ain’t good either, darlin.’”

“I just..needed to breathe. I felt like I was suffocating in there.”

“Somethin’ happen? How long..have you been feelin’ this way Beanie?” Joel asked you softly as he met your soft gaze.

“I don’t know. A while?”

Joel sighed as he rested his weight back on his palms. “Well, I've felt that way before too. Numerous times actually. I’ll have these moments where the fear comes up outta nowhere, and…my heart feels like it’s stopped.” He softly admitted.

“Like…you can’t breathe?”

“Yeah, like there’s water in my lungs instead of oxygen. Like i’m drownin’ and no matter how hard I swim, I can’t make it to the surface.” He murmured.

“Like..the darkness is closing in? Swallowing you whole?”

“Yeah, but that’s why you gotta look for the light. When you're lost in the darkness, look for the light.”

Joel’s words hung heavy in the air as you both sat in silence, looking up at the vast array of stars that were outshone by the brilliant pale white moon. Shining like a beacon in the inky black sky.

“Joel?” You asked through the growing silence.

“Hm darlin?’”

“Joel, what keeps you moving forward?”

Joel didn’t even have to give a single thought to your question. He already knew the answer. It was family. Family was the one thing that kept moving him forward in this new life.

“Family. You keep goin’ for family.” He confirmed as he watched the way you absentmindedly scratched at your arm, wiggled your nose as you let out a puff of icy air. “I don’t have any family.”

“That ain’t true at all. We’re friends, you and I. Friends can be family. What about Maria and Tommy? Wouldn’t you consider them to be your family as well?” Joel was looking straight into your eyes now as he softly spoke.

“You..consider me to be your family?”

“Darlin’, absolutely I do. You are my family. Why do you think I'm up here with ya right now?”

“To keep me from freezing to death?”

“Well, yes. But also because..I like spendin’ time with you. You think I'd come up here if I didn’t care about ya? I got a bad back and knees, darlin.’ One fatal slip off here and I'm toast.” He stifled a chuckle as his hand was now resting close to your own along the roof tiles

“Please, don’t fall.” Your pinky slowly looped around his.

“I ain’t gonna fall, dontcha worry.”

“Well, for the record, I'm glad you came up here.” There was a ghost of a smile on your lips as you looked over at him once more.

“Me too.” He gave your pinky a gentle squeeze. “Hey, if ya want..maybe you can go spend some time with Dina and Ellie? Help out around the stables? I know they can always use an extra set of hands.” He softly suggested.

“I guess I could do that, huh? I could use some more fresh air and I do like to see the horses.”

“Well, there ya go darlin.’ Sounds like you got it all figured out. I just know they’ll also appreciate seein’ another friendly face. Ellie ain’t got many friends either beside Dina and Jesse. I uh—think you’ll get along really well.”

“Joel?..” you asked as your cheek came to rest along his covered shoulder.

His heart skipped a beat as he did his best to not move and disturb you.

“Yeah Beanie?” He gently asked.

“Thank you.”

“What are ya thankin’ me for?” He asked as he cleared his throat under his breath.

“For being my friend.”

His heart had nearly just gone and burst right out of his chest as the frigid air turned the tips of his cheeks and nose bright red. He was secretly thankful that it was far too dark for you to detect the blush rising on his skin.

“You’re welcome darlin.’”

The sun was just beginning to peek above the horizon when Joel had finally convinced you to go back inside. He was genuinely concerned that parts of your body were frozen. Despite his aching back, and tired joints, he stayed with you until he felt like you were safe. His eyelids were beginning to droop as he rested his palm along his chin. His head bobbed as he struggled to stay awake. You were busy making a fresh pot of coffee and homemade cinnamon rolls, and you didn’t see his slumped form until you had turned around.

“Fiddlesticks,” you softly murmured as you set your bowl down and attended to his side. You gently shook his shoulder a few times before he was startled awake.

“Hey, how about you go and lay down on the couch? Rest up before you head home?”

You didn’t have to ask him twice as he slowly pulled himself up from the kitchen chair and trudged into the family room. You followed him shortly after and grabbed the thick quilt from alongside the couch and draped it over his sleeping frame. His arms were crossed over his chest as he snored softly through his much deserved slumber.

When he awoke hours later, there was a mug of coffee on the coffee table next to the couch along with a freshly baked cinnamon roll. Under the plate there was a scribbled note that read, Went to go see Dina and Ellie at the stables. Make yourself at home. -Beanie

He carefully tucked the note into his flannel pocket as he sat up. He took a hefty swig from the mug of coffee before he picked up the cinnamon roll. It smelled heavenly. With just the right amount of cinnamon and vanilla as the icing slowly oozed down the sides of his fingers. His first bite nearly had him moaning from the sugary taste. He devoured the entire thing, before drifting right back off to sleep with his arms wrapped tightly around the quilt that you had laid on him.

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[speakgermanhier]

Mutually Exclusive Theories and Yet, I Can See Both Working--4 Minutes BL *Spoilers to ep 4*

I have two theories swirling around my head and they are basically the opposites of each other. But, whatever, I've put on my clown makeup, so here we go.

TL;DR Great and Tyme never met and are just 2 strangers that happen to be experiencing death at the same time and/or Great is trying, and failing, to erase himself from Tyme's life a la Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Theory 1: Great and Tyme never actually met and the universe decided to take that personally. Therefore, the universe, or someone pulling the strings, makes changes to see how to get their ship together.

I think this because the decisions we see Great, and to a lesser extent Tyme, make continually lead to him and Tyme missing each other. And each time Great is sent back 4 minutes, he and Tyme get closer and closer.

Evidence: Universe gives Great a Do-Over

Hit and Run: Great hits the woman, she dies, Great drives away and is never associated with the collision. Therefore, Great never goes to the hospital to drop off the flowers and never meets Tyme. Boo. And thus, this is the only part of the show that actually happened. Great and Tyme never met, end of series. Except!

A Different Kind of Hit and Run: Great doesn't drive away after hitting the woman. Yay, he's at the hospital now and can meet Tyme! Except, he's freaked out by his conversation with the woman, runs into Tyme, doesn't really look at him at all and keeps going even after knocking all the papers on the floor, irritating Tyme and making him think of Great in a negative light. Great will never return to the hospital, Tyme will forget about the rude, inconsequential incident, and they will never associate further. Not on my watch!

Dome's Murder: Great doesn't talk with the woman, doesn't get freaked out, and so is polite and respectful when bumping into Tyme. Yay, they have a perfectly fine meet-cute, the universe is getting somewhere. As an extra bonus, get a sneak peak into what mind-blowing sex you two could have ;) Doesn't follow the 4 minutes because it never actually happened because they never actually met. Which is a tragedy when these kind of orgasms are out there, just waiting to be experienced.

Progress! Except! Title murders Dome and now Great is an accessory and that's just not a good look. Plus, now that the flowers are delivered, there's really no reason for Great to go back to the hospital. All the potential of that meet-cute but how to get a follow-up encounter? Great saves Dome's life! Not only does Dome need medical care, so does Great. He can now show up in front of Doctor Tyme as a brave hero AND an injured meow meow who needs hurt/comfort attention.

4. Great is being difficult: Great and Tyme have exchanged their numbers on LINE, Tyme has saved Great's life on top of taking care of his injury, the doctor has been thoughtful and attentive and heroic and when he asks Great out to dinner, Great says "another time" which is "no" >:( Does the universe have to do everything?!

5. Nan is captured: A meet-cute leads to a cute date, leads to some vulnerability and unburdening of pasts. More progress! But Nan is in the clutches of criminals. This is a huge weight on Tyme, who is now desperate and stressed, a trapped animal who lashes out and Great is the one to get scratched (figuratively). They fight on the roof and Tyme storms off, wanting nothing more to do with Great. And we can't have that.

6. Nan's rescue: So, clearly Great needs to know why Tyme is so stressed (Nan) so that he can show he is on Tyme's side and willing to help so that they can actually talk instead of fight. Except Sa-Marn kills Nan, which will cause Tyme to spiral, possibly Great as well, as guilt destroys Tyme from the inside out. Not a great foundation for the start of a cute romance. Plus, you know, a woman is dead and that's just not cool. So, rewrite, fantastic idea, Great SAVES Nan, and now everyone is alive, Great and Tyme are riding high on their success and adrenaline and can finally have a Great Time™️ in bed, as it was meant to be. 4 more episodes what?

Theory 2: The first timeline we see before Great is sent back 4 minutes is not actually the original timeline but is actually Great trying to create a world where he never gets involved with Tyme. But, you can't change the past and so all his attempts fail and he is sent back 4 minutes to reexperience the true timeline.

Evidence: Great Thinks Tyme is Better Off Without Him

I don't really have point for point evidence for this one, it's just a thought I had. Given that this is a twisty-turny show that distorts time, the thought "How can we assume that what Great, and thus the audience, experiences first is actually what happened first?" What if what we see SECOND is actually the true, original timeline and it led to Tyme getting shot and Great, in his guilt, is trying to redo all the events that led to him and Tyme getting together but so that they DON'T get together. Only, you can't change the past, only relive it, so every change he tries to make that will ensure he and Tyme don't meet, don't get together, don't understand each other, he gets sent back and those changes get erased and it all just happens again like it originally did. Doesn't seem likely but it's fun to think about.

[gx-gameon]

When it's time to go to the Dark World to rescue Jesse, do any of the DM crew join the GX kids or no?

This is my Great War. Every day I think about this idea.

Because there are three options here.

1) They stay behind

The portal closes before they can get there. And they are forced to wait.

Now as I wrote here Seto does still have the dimension pod that he used to go to the afterlife and duel Atem. However they were using them to try and track down Jesse. If they get left behind they won’t stay there for long. But I don’t know if they would try and lock on to Jaden or Jesse.

If they decide to go after Jesse they are going to run into possessed Jesse. Leading to a duel with Yubel. I don’t think Yubel would win but I also don’t think they’d lose. I think they’d find a way to end the duel in a draw through outside forces. And then send anything they could to keep the DM crew occupied.

Or

They track Jaden which has the same outcome as option two

2) They get there just as the portal opens and get sucked in

Now much like Zane, Aster, and Crowler they end up some place different then the Gx kids.

They don’t catch up to Jaden until he’s already the Supreme King. And oh we have so many options from here

This is Jaden at arguably his most powerful. He has super poly and is not holding back. He doesn’t care about anyone or anything right now and that makes him dangerous.

Add into this that the DM crew as are looking at their son/nephew who they raised as a little family unit. He’s lost to them right now and they are trying everything to snap him out of it.

How many DM characters do you think the Supreme King can beat?

Note they might be ‘going all out’ but they would never risk killing Jaden. Joey is definitely dueling the same way he did against Mai in the Oricalcos arc. Focused more on snapping Jaden out of it than wining. But as we know from Axel winning is the only way to defeat the Supreme King.

Yugi is absolutely trying to make the appeal to his son. “This isn’t you. I love you. Come back to me.” We could make this so heart wrenching.

Note they would probably met up with Axel right after Jim was lost. Axel tells them the horrible truth. This is because I still want to give the final duel against the Supreme King to Axel as it is a great moment for his character.

Plus after it’s all over Jaden has to live with not only ‘killing’ his friends (again not your fault) but also hurting and maybe killing some of his family.

3) They join the Gx crew for the whole journey.

Jaden still tries to rush ahead but the DM crew are not only experienced Jaden wranglers but also experience desperate protagonist wranglers. It’s your time to shine Aunt Téa and Dad Yugi.

They are able to keep a better eye on the kids so they don’t get captured. Meaning there has to be another way to sacrifice people.

We have some options

A) the Gx crew still gets put under the spell

they start talking crap about Jaden which greatly disturbs the DM crew for a lot of reasons.

Then they reach Brron the man traps separates the two groups all the Gx crew into duels (like a five on 1 tag duel?) but they all lose except Jaden because of their sadness/rage.

Leaving Jaden friendless and feeling like he couldn’t protect them. 

Jaden feels like a failure and maybe he gets tricked into thinking his family is dead and that’s what makes him fall.

B) it’s the DM crew Brron targets for his spell. They don’t have the negative feelings towards Jaden but each other.

Hear me out.

The whole situation has been stressful and a lot of them (Joey and Tristian) are upset with Seto’s school that keeps putting Jaden and friends in danger.

Téa and Yugi as super sad about Jaden’s lose of normalcy and also the way some of his friends behave.

Seto’s pride is as large as ever.

It’s not that they don’t love each other, they do but it’s stress and the situation and complex feelings. They’re not blaming each other but the situation and the spell brings out those negative emotions.

This ends with them getting sacrificed

Jaden has to watch as he loses his family and he loses it.

This also allows the Gx crew to be more active in the plot and maybe have some bonding with the remaining DM crew as only four are sacrificed.

Again this is my Great War. I have no idea which idea to go with.

[noonaishere]

Online/Offline [C.S] - sixty-seven | *not* born to run

You and San made off towards your apartment building. You didn’t really enjoy the silence as the two of you walked there, but you couldn’t think of anything to say. You sighed. You hated the stalker, you hated that you couldn’t do anything about him, you hated that the cops weren’t taking him seriously because - to them - he didn’t seem like a threat, you hated that it was affecting your relationships with other people, you hated that you kept crying, you hated that all you could do was cry, and you didn’t want to say any of this out loud because you felt like you had said it all before. Your life had gone from quiet but pleasant to a constant state of stress and fear. 

You sighed again.

San grabbed your hand.

“What?”

“I just saw him. He’s following us. Don’t turn around.”

“--I wasn’t going to.”

You walked a little further. The feeling from earlier, of being prey under the gaze of a sharp-fanged predator returned, and your heart sped up all on its own.

“Are you sure?” You asked, hoping he was wrong.

“Yeah. I had a full conversation with the man, it was him.”

“Fuck…” You could feel the tears welling up behind your eyes.

“It’s gonna be okay,” he whispered. “We just have to lose him.”

You nodded. His surety made you feel more sure as well.

“When I start running, you run with me, okay?”

You nodded again and gripped his hand tightly.

 As you walked you became more aware of how low the sun had dipped, already setting when you left the café and now moving into the much dimmer and shorter twilight of the day. The two of you walked another couple blocks that wasn’t in direction of either of your apartments, to give the illusion that San was walking you home. Hopefully he didn’t already know where you lived.

San shifted his hand quickly, from holding it like a boyfriend would while on a leisurely walk to his hand holding your wrist so he could lead you without being separated. Just as fast, he launched himself forward. The instant you felt the change in pressure against your skin - as he pulled you after him - you also launched forward, and the two of you were running like greyhounds after a rabbit. Safely connected where he held your wrist, your feet hit the pavement hard as you bolted. You heard a man’s voice curse behind you, and the footsteps of your stalker speeding up to catch you. 

San led you to the busier part of downtown. You ran through crowded alleyways, where the backs of stores were across from the fronts of other stores - hole in the wall food places, tiny bars where patrons were just getting into a night of getting shitfaced, college students drinking away their GPA -  and you had to give San all the credit in the world; either he knew these alleys well, or he was very good at guessing which ones weren’t dead ends.

People outside of establishments dodged the two of you as you tried to put distance between you and your stalker, though you couldn’t help but knock over boxes or garbage that were much too far into the walkway. 

“San-- I don’t know-- if--” You huffed, desperately trying to tell him that you were unused to such exercise, and you felt like your heart was going to explode.

“Just a little more,” he said back, breathing completely normally.

First the high jump and now this? What was he, an athlete? Fucking athletes.

You nodded, your mouth dry from trying to force yourself to continue breathing so you could force your legs to work at a capacity they were not okay with so you could keep up with him. You checked behind you for a moment, to see the face of your stalker, not too far behind you and furious. That gave you the fuel to keep going and the two of you were finally able to speed up enough that he couldn’t see you as well.

San pulled you down another alley, and knocked over a stack of boxes, sorted garbage spilling out onto the street loudly. You huffed inquisitively, unable to form words anymore, and he pulled you into a dark dead end. After a second you understood: he knocked them over to make it seem like you had gone in that direction.

In the dead end, San pressed you up against the wall of a building and covered your body with his, his dark jacket covering your lighter clothing and obscuring your form. Aware that your labored breathing was too loud, you put your hands over your mouth and tried to breath through your nose quietly. San quieted his own breathing, not that he was breathing particularly hard after all that running, forearms propping him up against the wall as he loomed over you in the darkness. 

Through the normal sounds of the night - people chatting, plates clinking, machinery whirring quietly - you could hear heavy footfalls go past the entrance of the alley, pausing at the overturned garbage, and then traveling further away in the direction the garbage led.

As you leaned against the wall, under San’s protection, you watched him as he listened to the sound of the stalker’s footsteps as they moved further away from where you were. Now, you had thought he was handsome from the moment you saw him, but you hadn’t looked at his face from this close before, not really looked at it. In the dim light of the shop signs that reflected off the paint of the buildings on either side of you, you could see his features. His sharp jaw, straight nose, and high cheekbones all highlighted by what light there was, the way it fell across his features so that the intensity of his gaze was brought out tenfold. His large irises looked almost black in the darkness, and between the way the slightly upturned outer corners of his eyes framed his irises, and the way he was on high alert as he tried with all his might to perceive anything that might mean the stalker had come back your way, he almost looked like a cat. As he turned back towards you, you could see how unreasonably clear his skin was, except for a few cute moles across his cheeks and the freckles on his neck. He really was beautiful. So beautiful you almost forgot for a moment why you were standing with him in a dark alley in the first place. 

His brow raised and his eyes darted back in the direction of the alley as he listened behind him. You watched as he processed what he was hearing, wondering what he could be thinking about: was he trying to calculate how far away the stalker was? How long you’d have to wait there? He was quiet for a few minutes as you stood, cloaked in the darkness.

He finally turned his eyes back towards you. “I think he’s gone.” You nodded, pulling your hands away from your mouth, now that it was okay to speak. 

His eyes looked into yours as he stood over you, looking over your features once before returning to where they had started.

“...You’re really close.” Was all you could think to say.

“Oh-- sorry.” He pulled away.

For a moment, you found yourself unsure if you wanted him to. 

He backed away and put his hands in his pockets. “Are you okay?”

“I-- Fuck,” you whispered, “something just occurred to me.” 

“What?” 

“If… he was just following us… and we have no real way of knowing if we lost him...” 

“Yeah?” 

“What if he sees me go to my apartment? What if he follows me there and-- and--” 

A lump formed in your throat as your brain cycled through tons of news reports and ‘realistic’ movies, all depicting what might happen to a woman when an obsessed man follows her home.

“Stay at my place.” 

“What?” 

“I have a roommate and we have a couch. You can sleep there.” 

“W-what about clothes and stuff?” 

“Umm…” 

“Wait, Yeosang has my spare key, in case I lock myself out. He can bring me some.” 

“He has your key?” 

“Yeah. I have his spare, too. He actually locks himself out quite a bit.” 

“Ah,” he chuckled. “Well, let’s go to my place and we can call Yeosang when we get there.” 

“Okay.”

“T-shirts are in the bag.” What else?”

“Okay, is it weird if I ask you to get me underwear?”

“I’ve seen you in your undies before.”

“Yeah, when we were three,” you laughed.

“I promise I will think of them only as one does when they’re looking through a catalog. ‘Oh, what a lovely bunch of fabric with no sexual meaning whatsoever!’”

You laughed again. “Well, I don’t even wear sexy underwear so get ready to be surprised.”

“Wait, so I’m the only one?”

You laughed.

“Get on my level, y/n.”

You laughed harder. “I’m going to tell Wooyoung you said that.”

He laughed. “Where are they?”

“The dresser my socks were in: open the top drawer.”

Yeosang switched the video call back to the outward-facing camera and walked back over to the dressed. The drawer slid open. “Ooooh!” He zoomed in on your underwear as he made ‘ohh~’ noises.

“Freak! You’re a freak!” You yelled. “Stop zooming in on them!” 

Yeosang guffawed and kept zooming. 

San looked over at you with a smile as you continued to guide Yeosang in getting your clothes over a video call. He listened to the sound of the line ringing as he waited for the person he had dialed to pick up.

“Hello?”

“Hyung, are you at the café?”

“Yes.” Seonghwa answered. “Wooyoung told Minsoo and I what happened. Your roommate is very nice, by the way.”

“I hope you told him that.”

“I did. You took y/n back to her apartment?”

“No. The stalker was following us.”

“What?”

San heard another ‘what’ in the background that sounded like Wooyoung. The phone rustled for a second before it sounded like it was put on speakerphone and set down onto a table.

“He followed you?” Wooyoung asked.

“Yeah.”

“Are you okay?” Yunho asked.

“We’re fine. We lost him in the alleyways in the area with all the restaurants and bars and shit.”

“I didn’t know you knew that area.” Minsoo said.

“I don’t. Not really. We were lucky he didn’t catch us.”

“Where are you now?” Seonghwa asked.

“At my and Yunho’s apartment. She’s on the phone with her friend Yeosang and he’s going to bring clothes over for her.”

“Is she okay?”

“She seems a little shaken up, but I think Yeosang is cheering her up.”

“Do you want these pink leopard print ones?” Yeosang asked saucily. “Oh! Do you have a matching bra? That would look nice.”

“I didn’t ask for fashion advice-- Get out of the bra drawer!” Y/n yelled back.

“I wasn’t giving any. I thought you said you didn’t have sexy undies.”

“Aaaghhhh!”

San suppressed a laugh and moved to the quiet of his bedroom, narrowly avoiding Wooyoung’s cackle coming through the phone.

“What was that about?” Wooyoung asked with a laugh.

“Yeosang is criticizing her taste in underwear, apparently.”

“He’s looking through her underwear drawer?” Minsoo asked incredulously.

“He’s getting clothes for her. Underwear are clothes too.”

“She’s known him longer than I have,” Wooyoung offered. “They’re like OG bffs. Straight out the womb.”

“Ahh,” Minsoo replied.

“Anyway,” Seonghwa interjected, hoping to steer the conversation back into normality, “You’re sure her stalker didn’t follow you to your apartment?”

“We kept checking as we came back here, and we didn’t see him. So we’re pretty sure. Our building has a doorman, so he wouldn’t be able to come up on his own unless I told them I was expecting someone.”

Seonghwa hummed in acknowledgement.

“Do you think the cops will do something now?” Wooyoung asked, angry, but not at anyone in the call.

Seonghwa grunted as he thought.

“They’d have to, right?” Minsoo asked.

“You’d think they would…” Yunho must have leaned on the counter because San could hear what sounded like elbows hitting the table as voice got closer. “But what evidence do they have if they go to the police?”

“Of the chase, you mean?” Seonghwa asked.

Yunho hummed his agreement.

“Nothing, only their word.”

Everyone went quiet for a few minutes as they thought.

“We don’t have to stay here,” Seonghwa said. “It’s way past closing time anyway.”

San heard the sound of Yunho pushing himself up off the table. “I’m going to come back. I’ll pick up food so we don’t have to order.”

“Alright.”

“We are going to figure this out, San.” Seonghwa reassured him.

“Yeah… I know.”

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@rachs-words • @stayatinykatsy •

[nomsfaultau]

Can you ramble to me about anything with Philza pretty please

welp I'm working on Mandatory Family Reunion at this second, so. The absolute way MFR Philza just messes up his children each in such fun unique ways. Like the damage to Techno is OBVIOUS. Gaslighting minimizing destroying his entire sense of self etc etc. Philza is so deeply delusional, and the way he infects Techno is fascinating. But basically all of MFR is about that.

However, the way he hurts Wilbur and Tommy is so neat too, and I think it implies so much about Philza. Wilbur clearly has no sense of consequences for his actions ever. Which is crazy for a dude who has been doing various criminal activities. Super sheltered but thinks he isn't. And the way he's been left feeling incomplete, dedicating his entire life to getting back his 'other half'. And of course Philza gives him this whole talk about 'he is not replacing you' and 'our capacity for love grows' etc etc, promising Wil directly that he is equally loved. But like. He just clearly isn't. Philza is constantly, constantly paying 100% attention to Techno, which does ultimately lead to his down fall; Wilbur building the raid beneath his nose, being too depressed to properly rig the court case. Philza is utterly consumed with the mythos of his prodigal son, and forgot his 'eldest constant son' in the process. Like Wilbur word for word says he's just an attention whore, and Philza has so, so clearly shaped that. Grown up in the shadow of an impossibly perfect martyr that Philza built up in his head.

Plus Wilbur says he hasn't felt guilt since he was twelve, so he straight up just let a preteen into his criminal empire????? What is WRONG with him?

And Tommy. Ohhh Tommy. This is something I'll be really getting into chapter 11ish, but like Philza's severe paranoia was pretty detrimentous to him. Spending weeks in a bunker cut off from all his friends with no idea what's happening to his absent family? Hello? The strict scheduling and security makes me think Philza doesn't really let Tommy just spontaneously hang out with friends. See: actual months before he let Techno see even one friend (okay extreme case but still). And of course it's so very justified to Philza because welp he lost one kid before so no level of security is too much.

The fact Tommy thinks he was adopted to try and replace Techno. And. I mean maybe? Genuinely that might've been philza's angle?? At the VERY least Philza did not notice and cure that anxiety that his kid has. Obviously it didn't last long, but at the start Tommy really resents Techno in a way that's so unhealthy. Tommy is just screaming abandonment issues, really, especially during the Nether kidnapping. Philza promises to do better, of course. And then just doesn't, again. He completely shuts out everything but Techno the days leading to the final raid, and then lets himself go to jail. MFR Philza has all these pretty words, but he really, really does not back them up.

But also, he's lived every single second of the past 18 years in the minute he found Alexander's empty cradle, and I think it took Techno's last testimony for him to wake up. Philza spends most of MFR doubling down on the promises he's made about his happy ending for years. It's how he kept himself together and destroyed himself all at the same time.

Which, in comparison with The Lambs wolves wear Philza, it's really funny how both of them treat the mask of fatherhood. MFR Philza chasing perfect fatherhood so desperately to stave off the trauma of losing a child. And Lambs Philza forced into playing a perfect father no matter how much he hates it, again to stave off the trauma of losing a child. Anyway just funny they're both bad and fake at being a Dad in polar opposite ways.

Hold on I think Worth far more than your weight in gold Philza is also dadmoding to avoid dead child trauma. And Fault Philza gets Anderson killed and immediately stress adopts Wilbur as a coping mechanism. Honestly same with Tubbo. And Lord what fools these mortals be! Philza is kidnapping humans so he doesn't have to think about the horror of being a stagnate immortal.

Actually this is a really really funny trend I just found in my Philza's. Dad as coping mechanism and is kinda bad/traumatizing at it.

[zerm2v0hg]

TToaCMC Remnant Timeline - Part 1

(...a.k.a., "What if RWBY/J never returned?")

So, anyone who’s read my Volume 9 fic The Tale of a Cat Most Curious might remember I said at the end that I might write a spinoff describing what happens on a post-Fall of Atlas Remnant in the fic’s AU. So I’ve written a series of posts, starting with this one, loosely describing one possible timeline of how the war against Salem goes for the remaining characters and people, with some gaps for folks to draw their own conclusions about the details.

This’ll be coming in several parts over several days, with new posts being put up every three or four days.

-

PART 1 – THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS AFTER THE FALL:

(Vacuo)

Qrow, Robyn and the surviving Ace-Ops make their way to Vacuo, eventually rejoining Nora, Ren, Winter and Emerald at Shade Academy.

In the months after the Fall of Atlas and the forced mass exodus into Vacuo, things are dire. Shade Academy and its local oasis are initially used as a refugee centre, but it doesn’t have the room or resources to support all the evacuees plus its own student and tutor body, especially on account of how resource-scarce Vacuo is coupled with Vacuo’s semi-Darwinistic culture. The thought of the Atlas-Mantle refugees overconsuming the Shade oasis’ resources furthermore rubs many Vacuans the wrong way. Some of Vacuo’s population don’t even believe that Salem is real or that Ruby’s rogue broadcast to the world was truthful, leading Vacuan nationalistic organisations to gain power.

A large percentage of the refugees die from causes including: lack of basic resources like food, water and medicine; heat stress in the new climate; suicides, violent encounters with the locals, attacks by local Grimm, and desperate clashes between each-other. More refugees disappear due to traffickers, organ harvesters and the other criminal organisations in Vacuo’s anarchist climate preying on them, despite huntsmen and huntresses’ efforts to defend or rescue them from such. Other desperate evacuees take their chances trying to flee to other regions.

The Maidens present in Vacuo use their weather-manipulating magic to shield refugee-inhabited areas from the Vacuan heat and bring rain as much as possible, and they at one point try terraforming fertile lands and grow more food. This backfires by further enflaming tensions among the Vacuans, whom feel even more so like they’re being invaded by their former colonists again due to this, and point out that the Maidens are intervening on the refugees’ behalf rather than the Vacuans’ after centuries. (ADDENDUM: Why didn’t anyone ever use the Maidens’ weather powers for long-term terraforming before, particularly in Vacuo and Solitas’ extreme environments? My guess is that Ozpin forbade the Maidens under his thumb from doing it to maintain secrecy, and none of the generations of Maidens that WEREN’T under his thumb were the types of people who would care enough about others to bother. And maybe, Ozpin WANTED Vacuo and Solitas to remain barren as part of his politicking and long-game plan for saving Remnant. Maybe Shade Academy’s oasis was itself originally cultivated by a past Maiden on Ozpin’s orders.)

Within four months of the Fall, roughly 65% of the former Kingdom of Atlas’ displaced population including children and infirm are dead or missing. Willow Schnee is later among the confirmed casualties, leaving Whitley under Winter’s care – the Schnee family is a remnant of what it once was. In a desperate effort to lower the death toll, the huntsmen and huntresses resort to mass-unlocking civilian refugees’ auras and training them as much as can be afforded.

Hope diminishes further after news reaches Vacuo that Vale has been completely overrun by a massive spike in Grimm activity. Several of the heroes observe the oddity that Salem would have her Grimm attack the already-decimated Vale first, instead of going straight for the unorganised desert kingdom where they currently reside in a weakened state. It’s hypothesised that Salem is making a second attempt to locate the Crown of Choice’s hidden true vault in Vale, or that Salem might not have ordered the Grimm to finish destroying  Vale at all and the Grimm had simply been drawn in by the negativity spike after the Fall of Atlas.

The remaining heroes, while struggling to save what refugees they can, debate what to do next about countering Salem. They debate whether or not to use the Summer Maiden (*) to open the vault under Shade and take the Sword of Destruction out to be moved to somewhere else.

(The other kingdoms)

Slowly, the other kingdoms and settlements outside of Shade Academy withdraw into their own borders.

Mistral’s gates are initially open to refugees, partly in an effort by the kingdom to rearm itself after Leonardo Lionheart’s actions decimated the kingdom’s huntsman population. Salem openly contacts Mistral and offers them a “gift:” they have nothing she’s after anymore, so she and the Grimm will leave Mistral alone on the condition that they close their borders, don’t get in her way and don’t in any way aid her enemies. Mistral’s council take the bargain, closing up and cutting off all support to Vacuo.

After a delay, news of the Fall of Atlas and Ruby’s message reach Menagerie. Ghira and Kali Belladonna call for the reformed White Fang to mobilise to the continents. However, many of Menagerie’s population, having been untouched by Salem’s genocidal campaign since the White Fang’s reformation, are outraged at the prospect of sending their militia away from their homeland to the aid of foreign kingdoms, including kingdoms which Menagerie has very bad blood with, based on Ruby’s message, leading to mass protests and a delay in mobilisation.

(Salem and her faction)

Salem has instructed the Grimm to comb the ruins of Vale, looking for the hidden new Fall Maiden vault where the Crown of Choice was moved out of Beacon’s basement to. Contacting Tyrian and Mercury via a Seer, she orders them to be patient and bide their time: Salem wants to let her enemies in Vacuo have breathing room to tear themselves apart with squabbles and infighting like they and Ironwood previously did in Atlas before her minions move in. Cinder is frustrated and impatient to claim the Winter and Summer Maiden powers immediately, knowing that they’re both currently in Vacuo.

-

(*) - I’ll default to calling the Summer Maiden Omaira, as a placeholder name on this timeline. If you’ve read a certain Coeur Al’Aran fic, then you know. ;)

(Also, Ruby’s broadcast REALLY should have mentioned that the consequences of Salem winning are the physical destruction of Remnant and all life on it. If it had, maybe Mistral and Menagerie would’ve opposed Salem like she wanted.)

[parkitaco]

mayhaps... 48 for the byler kiss ask game?

Melvald's is too quiet, Mike thinks, biting his lip as he trails carefully behind Will. Everything is too quiet, these days, but this especially so- there should be the low hum of the refrigerator in the back, the ding of the register, Joyce Byers standing behind the counter ready to greet them. Not that Joyce even works here anymore, but Melvald's was probably as much a part of Mike's childhood as DnD, and Mike's not used to it being so dead.

"Mike," Will huffs from in front of him, casting a warning look over his shoulder as they creep carefully around the shelves, scanning for any sign of danger. "You're thinking too loud."

Mike frowns, stopping as Will peers around a corner, hands clutching desperately at the gun Hopper had given him while keeping it at arm's length from his body, like he's afraid to bring it too close. "Sorry," Mike murmurs, as Will nods the all clear and they continue on to the next aisle, "I feel like- we shouldn't be here."

Will hums noncommittally, scanning the meager selection of nonperishable foods still remaining in the store. "Like, because we might die, or because no one else is here?"

It's meant to be a joke, as evidenced by the upward tilt of Will's mouth as he steals a glance at Mike, but he's too on edge to acknowledge it, every nerve in his body alight as he bites his lip and takes another furtive glance around the store. "Both," he decides, as Will hands him a can of refried beans (blech) and he places it carefully in the bag they've brought.

It's not like he hasn't been to Melvald's since the apocalypse started, but the few times he'd gone had been with large groups, and he'd mostly followed the lead of whichever of the older teens had been doomed to lead the group that day. It had felt a little better, then, when there were the voices of three or four other people ringing through the dead, eerie silence. But the older teens are in planning mode today, and evidently Nancy had deemed him and Will smart enough to not die on a fifteen minute supply run, so here they are, speaking in soft voices and stealing glances at each other.

Besides, Will's been making Mike sort of- nervous, recently. So that compiled with the general stress of impending doom is making Mike's brain go a little haywire.

It's quiet for a moment, the only sounds the gentle clanging of cans of beans crashing into each other as they shove them into Mike's backpack. Will's fingers brush Mike's, his breathing audible from their proximity and the silence of the store, and Mike is all too aware of it- the calluses on Will's palms, the light flush in his cheeks, his lips bitten raw. He's always been hyper-aware of Will, but it's harder to ignore now, when he's quite literally the only person around for miles. In any case, it's a lot more pleasant to focus on Will than to focus on the possibility of demodogs lurking behind every corner.

"You're staring," Will murmurs after a moment, mouth twitching up into a wry little smile as he tosses the last of the cans into Mike's bag and zips it up.

"Sorry," Mike says quickly, flushing and glancing away across the darkened store.

"I didn't say I minded," Will replies, tipping his head to one side and into Mike's field of vision, trying to get his attention. Mike swallows, feeling warm all over as he meets Will's eyes again, and Will sends him an overexaggerated grin.

He's just trying to distract Mike, probably, from the world ending all around them and the constant fear of being attacked without warning. He's been doing things like this a lot, lately - teasing him, bumping their shoulders together, trying to fluster Mike or make him laugh when he's particularly stressed out. Mike's not sure if Will means anything by it or if it's just Will, being a good friend, like always, and Mike reading too much into things. Either way, the- the distracting, it's working a little too well.

"Shut up," he chooses to respond, which is about as eloquent as he's capable of being right now, and Will laughs, leaning back against the shelf. He's still holding the gun, but his grip on it has slackened, his shoulders more relaxed now. Mike wonders if maybe that's what it's about, all the teasing and the smiling and the jokes. Maybe it's more for Will's benefit than Mike's.

Typical of Mike, to assume it's all about him. He's such an idiot. He glances away again, biting his lip, and Will kicks at his shoe, feigning a scowl. "You okay?"

Mike nods, still not looking at him, and he can practically feel the disbelief radiating off of Will. "I- yeah, fine. C'mon, we should get going."

Will sighs. "Mike."

"I'm fine, Will," he insists, glancing back at him with wide, serious eyes, and Will holds up his hands in surrender. The gun is still clutched in one hand, and Mike narrows his eyes at it. "I- okay, don't point that thing at me," he adds, nodding to the gun, and Will winces sheepishly, lowering both hands. "I'm just freaked out, okay? Let's go."

Will's eyes scan his face, lips pursed like he's trying to figure him out, and Mike shifts uncomfortably, feeling oddly scrutinized. Sometimes he thinks that Will knows him too well.

But then he's nodding, holding out his free hand for Mike, and Mike tries his level best not to overthink it as he threads his fingers through Will's. It's just for safety, he reminds himself, as Will squeezes his hand and tugs him gently around the corner. Just so they don't get separated. It doesn't mean anything. Probably. Almost definitely.

"Stop thinking," Will murmurs for a second time, squeezing his hand and pausing at the end of one aisle, and Mike squawks indignantly as Will stops him, a hand against his chest.

"Believe me, I'm trying," he hisses, as Will peers around the corner, hand pressed against Mike's sternum. His palm is warm, heat seeping through the cotton of Mike's t-shirt, and Mike thinks his heart might beat right out of his chest, right into Will's palm.

Wouldn't make a difference, he figures. Will holds his whole heart in his hands anyway.

"Shit," Will mutters, and his grip on Mike tightens, fingers digging into his chest as he presses back against the shelving. "Shit, shit, shit, don't move."

Instantly, the warmth in Mike's chest dissipates, blood running cold as Will all but shoves him against the wall, breathing quick and frantic. "What is it?" he breathes, as Will squeezes his eyes shut and takes a deep breath.

"Okay, don't freak out," he whispers, eyes still shut, and Mike stares at him incredulously.

"What do you mean don't freak out, what-"

"Demodog," Will interrupts, "Aisle three. Hasn't seen us yet."

"Fuck," Mike groans, too loud in the silence, and Will's eyes fly open to glare at him.

"Quiet," he hisses, grip on Mike's hand deathly tight, and Mike's kind of stopped thinking about the implications of the hand-holding and is now mostly just worrying about the bones in his hand breaking into tiny pieces. "I- okay, hang on," he whispers, peeking around the corner again. "It's just sniffing around, I think if we-" he casts a glance over his shoulder, and Mike follows his gaze to the supply closet at the other end of the aisle.

His eyes lock on Will's, and he nods, steeling himself. "Slow and steady, yeah?"

Will nods, setting his jaw in that way he does when he's scared and trying not to be, and Mike squeezes his hand, giving him as reassuring a smile as he can manage. "Yeah."

Mike takes a deep breath, steeling himself, and carefully begins edging along the shelves. Will follows close behind, still clutching the gun in his free hand, and Mike, not for the first time, prays that he won't have to use it.

They reach the supply closet, and Mike's hand closes around the handle. He swallows, glancing at Will, and Will cranes his neck to take another scan of the store. Mike can just barely see the demodog's backside, curled around the corner of one of the aisles, and he resolves to open the door in one fluid motion.

The handle turns with a deafening click, and behind him, Will releases a frightened whimper. Mike clenches his teeth and tugs them both inside sharply, shoving the door closed behind him and pressing his back against it. Will releases his hand, fumbling with the lock, and Mike pauses to stare at him, hysterically amused. "You think a lock is going to stop it?" he murmurs, halfway between a laugh and a sob, and Will shoots him a withering glare.

"Shut up," he mutters, and takes up a position beside Mike, ear pressed to the door and listening for any signs that they've been spotted. There's a soft skittering of paws from the other end of the store, and Mike swallows hard, blood thudding loud in his ears.

Two seconds pass. Then ten. Then thirty.

Will's hand slips back into Mike's.

Mike counts out another ten seconds, listening to the click of the demodog's paws, which mercifully seem to be moving away rather than toward them. Then:

"Hey, uh. Will?"

Three more seconds. Four, five, six-

"Shh, Mike."

-seven, eight, nine-

"Sorry, it's just- um, if we're going to die here, I just wanted to say that-"

"Mike." Will whips his head around to glare at him. "Shut up. And we're not going to die," he adds, a little less certain. Mike scrunches up his nose, disbelieving.

"Right, sure. But if we were, I just- wanted to ask, um- do you really not mind when I look at y-"

"Michael."

Will shifts all at once, reaching up and grabbing Mike by the front of his shirt. He gives it a sharp tug, and their lips meet firmly and fiercely, like Will's not giving himself time to think better of it. Mike stumbles against the door, the hand that's not still clutched in Will's automatically lifting to cradle Will's jaw. Will releases a soft, punched-out sort of breath from somewhere in his ribcage and presses in harder, shoving Mike up against the door and biting softly at his lip before stepping back, hand shoving into Mike's chest before dropping to his side, his breathing ragged around the edges.

"No, Mike, I don't mind," he says flatly, staring at him with a quirked eyebrow and a carefully blank expression. "Now please be quiet, okay?"

Mike's brain has effectively stopped working. He nods dumbly, fighting the urge to raise his fingertips to his lips, just to make sure they're still real. "Uh, right," he says, voice thick, "Quiet. Me. Never speaking ever again. Um-" his eyes drop to Will's hand, which is noticeably empty. "Hey, where's the gun?"

Will glances down, frowning at his empty palm. "Oh. Um. Might have dropped it."

Mike's eyes widen incredulously. "You dropped the gun?"

"A little? Maybe?" Will winces. "Sorry. It's probably on the floor here somewhere."

"Unbelievable," Mike mutters, but he's smiling a little as Will releases his hand and drops to his knees, feeling around on the floor of the closet. He sinks to the ground beside him, biting his lip to hold back a grin and watching in the dim lighting as Will's fingers close around the gun. "I'm that distracting, huh?"

Will rolls his eyes, clicking on the safety on the gun and sitting back on his heels. "Thought I just told you to be quiet," he mumbles, but Mike can see the gentle flush on his cheeks anyway. "I hate using these things," he adds, frowning at the gun in his hands, and Mike nudges him gently with his toe.

"I know," he says softly, and Will smiles gently up at him. "Think it's gone?" he asks, tilting his head toward the door and the demodog that may or may not be lurking beyond.

Will nods slowly. "Yeah, I don't hear anything." He climbs to his feet, stretching out a hand to pull Mike up with him. "Shall we?"

Mike grins, tugging gently at his sleeve. Will visibly presses down a smile, shifting closer, and this time when their lips brush it's more gentle. Will's breath ghosts over Mike's cupids bow, and Mike can feel the smile on his lips when he kisses into it.

Will pulls back, eyes tracing over Mike's face. "Okay?" he asks in a whisper, and Mike can't think of a single scenario in which kissing Will Byers would be anything but very, extremely okay.

"Stop thinking," he tells Will, quirking an eyebrow, and Will rolls his eyes as he drags him out the door.

[felixcloud6288]

Higurashi: Festival Accompanying Chapter 13

At this point, we already know everything leading up to June 1982, so the chapter is more focused on the reactions to it rather than the event itself.

We start the chapter off with Tamae Hojo already dead and jump forward a few days. And Shion ended up being correct; Satoshi did buy that giant teddy bear with the money he'd earned.

I've been waiting since Curse-Killing to bring this up and now is the perfect moment to do so: Throughout this entire series, Satoshi has never actually been confirmed to have murdered his aunt. Each arc it comes up, the narrative would come closer and closer to accepting that as true, but we never actually saw it ourselves.

In Abducted by Demons, Tamae's murder and Satoshi's disappearance are treated as unrelated events that were part of the series of murders and disappearances. In Curse-Killing, the possibility that Satoshi killed Tamae was first proposed. In Eye Opening, we saw the build-up leading to the murder and the immediate aftermath, but not the murder itself. In Atonement, Rena outright says Satoshi killed Tamae.

And now we have Irie thinking about Satoshi's condition and he just accepts that Satoshi most likely killed his aunt to protect his sister. And just like with the 1980 case, Irie's perspective asks that we not point fingers and accuse Satoshi. His actions were due to stress and desperation, and he would never have done anything like this if he were in a better state of mind. We don't get to see the actual murder because that would be equivalent to actually blaming Satoshi for the murder.

I think it's worth noting that the actual confirmation that Satoshi killed his aunt comes from his own mouth. While he's panicking thinking that every person in town is his aunt, he openly states he beat her with a bat until she was dead.

When Satoshi started scratching at his throat, he asked if there are maggots in his blood, which calls back to Rena's mental state when she started to suffer from Hinamizawa Syndrome in Atonement. This actually really shows how much of a miracle case Rena is. She likely was on the verge of L5 syndrome when she was little but was able to be pulled back from the brink, most likely with the help of sedatives and various medications. But she never actually recovered which explains the random outbursts she'd have throughout the series.

And during Atonement, she relapsed into a near L5 state once again and came back from it once more because Keiichi refused to give up on her and make her believe her friends really are there for her. And she hasn't had any relapse since, not even across timelines.

So I guess beyond just medication, it's important that victims of Hinamizawa Syndrome need to feel like they're secure within their communities and can rely on them for help. I mentioned way early in the series that I think part of the festival's purpose is to reinforce the sense of community within the village. Each murder that wasn't part of Takano's machinations was committed by someone who didn't go to the festival.

So now we know the answer to another one of the longest mysteries; one which has plagued the story since almost the beginning: What happened to Satoshi? Just like the ringleader in 1979, he was spirited away to the research lab. But this time, Irie put his foot down and refused to budge. Satoshi is going to be treated and cured.

And as Irie declares his desire for 1983 to have no tragedies, he thinks back on the victims who have suffered during all this. He doesn't know about Takano and Okonogi killing the Furudes, so they aren't part of his thoughts. Instead he thinks of Satoshi, Satoko, and the ringleader. And in his mind, Satoko and Satoshi are looking at Irie, but the ringleader has his back turned to him. He's the person Irie didn't try to save. Irie probably can never look at him.

We then cut to Ooishi. He's trying to connect the dots and trying to figure out how the Sonozakis are behind all this. At this point, we know everything is a mix of coincidences and coverups by Tokyo. Literally none of the murders have anything to do with each other. They just all happened to fall on the same event (not even the same day since the festival doesn't have a set date) for different reasons.

The only thing they have in common is Tokyo decided to coverup certain aspects of each incident to hide the research Takano and Irie were doing.

We get some backstory about Ooishi and the foreman. The foreman became a second father to Ooishi. He taught Ooishi why cops are bastards and how to play mahjong. When Ooishi reflects on his death, he's most upset over how they never recovered his right arm.

Miyoko remarked that her father would pat her head with his right arm. One of the most devastating aspects of his death was he lost his right arm. And in a similar way, Ooishi's father-figure also lost his right arm.

Ooishi knows his chance to find the truth behind the foreman's murder is almost up. He is going to get far more aggressive in his search, and ideally he'll find the culprits before anyone dies.

And then we cut to Mion and Rika talking about Satoshi's disappearance. Mion is frustrated with her own weakness as she couldn't do anything to help Satoshi despite her position as the heir to the Sonozakis. Despite her status, Mion is just as chained to the village's past, reputation, and fate.

But Rika assures her that someone will soon come who can break their chains. And next year, they will overcome everything.

This chapter had three different perspectives from Irie, Ooishi, and Mion. Irie is an unwilling instigator who wants to end all the tragedies; Ooishi is an investigator who wants to uncover the truth behind the tragedies; Mion is a victim caught in the middle of all this, unable to stop these tragedies while also being blamed for them. They all want the same thing though. They want to see a June 1983 where the tragedies are finally ended.

Rika needs to bring together hearts with the same wish for a miracle to make it happen. We've seen Takano's origin and how Tokyo has trapped Hinamizawa in its grip. Now we've seen the rise of hearts who would fight back. Next, we'll see how they come together to overcome their shared fate in June 1983.

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[millythewolf]

Whumptober Day 3

Prompt: Shared Trauma Rating: Teen Characters: OC & Poppy Sweeting Other tags: Pirate AU, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, TW: Mentioned Child death, TW: Blood, TW: Violence.

The sound of a knife sharpening echoed through the large kitchen, overtaking any sound Umi had no interest hearing. Her son, Joseph, was asleep upstairs at the moment, while her good-for-nothing husband was out doing who knows what. Typically in this kind of moment, she would have the house to herself. The pink haired woman would be relaxing on the sofa trying to read a book to pass the time, or maybe be in the yard scaring off the squirrels. No, today someone she used to call a friend decided to make an unpromted visit.

Poppy Sweeting was shorter than her, but still older. Umi had practically grown up with the girl, Thanks to her older sister's desperate need to be social. Recently the two caused quite the scandle in the town, and more importantly, in the Tora family name. What Poppy wanted from her, she didn't know, but she also didn't enjoy the presence. "I don't care about what you have to say! You are the reason I'm in this mess, if it wasn't for you I wouldn't be in this miserable place!" She missed the wettstone, cutting her hand without so much as a wince. Blood dripped onto the countertop, at first slowly, then picking up speed. Umi didn't care. "If anything, you should be the one I kill," She snarled, pinning the other woman in her place with a glare as sharp as the knife she was holding. The older girl's breath hitched, but not for long. Poppy had already known about Umi's degrading sanity, she watched it happen. The words hurt, it made her chest tighten. She was an adult now but, she can't help but see her as a sad and nervous little kid. She was like her little sister. "You know very well that violence only leads to more pain. You are stressed out! Let me watch Joseph for a little while, just until you get your head on your shoulders again. It will be good for you," The short girl gave her a pittiful smile.

This only seemed to push her farther over the edge though, as she made sudden movements towards nosey woman. The already-bloody knife found it's way to her throat, "Why in the hells would I trust you with him! You'd corrupt him, just like Milly and my mother! Anyone who hangs around my sister ends up dead and mangled... I'm not afraid to be the cause of yours."

Poppy gulped against the blade, holding her hands up in surrender. "What happened to Marnie wasn't Milly's fault, she was just as shocked as you and I..." She put gently, closing her eyes and hoping it would clear her attacker's head.

"You think I was shocked?" A choked sob, causing Poppy to open a single eye to see messy tears running down Umi's face. There she was, the scared child Poppy used to know. "No, Poppy, I was there when it happened. I saw her get ripped to shreds! I saw her get eaten alive! She sacrificed herself to save me, but I still can't even save myself..." The woman trailed off, breaking down and pulling the knife away from her friend's neck.

The world went still. The revelation explained a lot, actually. The morning they found her body, bloodied and torn and twisted to the point were she was near unrecognizable, Umi didn't want to go to her house at all. Wondering the streets, she could barely keep up. Hell, Poppy ended up carrying her most of the time.

She had saw what had happened to Marnie first hand, and she was just seven. No wonder she is as damaged as she is.

Poppy kneeled down and carefully took the kitchen knife from the young woman's trembling hand, and placed it on the table behind them. She went back down, and wrapped the crying girl into a tight hug, rubbing soft circles into her back. Poppy was crying as well, but she didn't notice.

She is going to have to tell Milly about this soon, but right now this is more important. Umi had been holding this in for over a decade, so Poppy was going to be her comforting hand while she was able to.